Supernova
by G w E n Z i L L a
Summary: 274/362. When two decommissioned supreme leaders meet again, the sheltered Rachel McKenzie must decide whether or not it is worth it to compromise her lifestyle of strict rules and responsibilities to learn what it means to truly live, even if it means rebelling and betraying her parents' trust to learn under the wing of the popular Chad Dickson.
1. One: Sheltered

**Author's note:** Happy 2019! As of the thirteenth of January, chapters one through seven have been revised and revamped. This includes improved transitions and dialogue; however, if there are those random typos with extra or missing letters, I blame it on the butterfly keyboard of this Macbook.

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CHAPTER 1: SHELTERED

Rachel McKenzie wasn't like most girls her age.

Most sixteen-year-old girls were interested in simple pleasures: acquiring the latest trends, spending time at the mall, going to parties with the coolest kids in school, participating in peer pressure, and usually, dating someone you could show off.

In her case, it had been ingrained in her that these things were superficial and trivial from the moment she could first _remember_. Focusing on those silly things wouldn't benefit her future. That was what her mother taught her.

Regardless, anyone could take one look at her and judge that she lived a good life. Her father was an established corporate attorney with a background in criminal law, and her mother came from old money. Would a lack of resources ever be a problem? With parents like that, definitely not.

She knew her parents were happy and content with the lives they led and that they expected her to follow the footsteps of her father. As long as she smiled at family parties (check), brought home stellar grades (easily done), maintained her life as a private school student and stayed on the fast track to Yale (currently in progress), is a good sister to Harvey (eh, debatable), and obeyed the rules enforced upon her since her turning thirteen, her life would steady itself to align in a way alike to theirs. One of class and luxury.

Following those expectations didn't change the fact that there was a problem.

She wasn't unhappy, but she wasn't happy either.

Rachel wasn't sure what it was particularly, but something was missing. She just had no idea how or where to find what that something was. Having everything and nothing at the same time led to feelings of inadequacy, some times worse than others. Feelings of unfulfillment came and went. Would her life of controlled isolation affect her personal growth and development negatively in the long run? Was that really true?

The role of the eldest trophy child made her resentful at times; while she had to stay home, her little brother had the freedom to see his friends without a set schedule.

Mom and dad weren't so harsh on Harvey when it came to their expectations. If anything, they encouraged him to go out of his way to make connections. It was like his previous behavioral problem had been corrected overnight, a few years back.

She understood why this was, but she wished her parents would loosen the hold they had on her.

The rules were as followed: curfew at 8 pm during the school year and 9 pm during breaks, no dating until college, no friends on school nights, parental approval of friends before being able to hang out with them, no tattoos or piercings (as if that would ever be a problem). In all honesty, it was a bigger list.

It was a list she entertained with thoughts of opposition in her head at times. Rachel once thought teenage angst and rebellion to be myths, and well, really just hormonal imbalances. It's not like she had much opportunity to truly break or even bend those commands, so there was never any trying. Her private school classmates weren't much fun, and they were _not_ pleasant company anyway.

Nevertheless, she was thankful for it to be summer break.

After a long negotiation and discussion about responsibility with her father, she was finally allowed the privilege of a sleepover at Fanny's house. The redhead was a friend from kickboxing class, and she brightened up the last three years of her mundane life. Fanny absolutely loved poking fun at her 'first world problems,' not that Rachel minded much.

She didn't admit to anyone that she had dreams of fighting stuff like that – the unreasonable and rigid structure of her parents' ideals of adulthood – but they stayed like that. _Dreams._

Boyband music moderately blasted in the background that Rachel didn't really care for, but she sat comfortably on the floor of Fanny's bedroom perusing a magazine and pretending to be a normal teenager for once. The latter girl sprawled on her bed to a prone position and grumbled.

"Did I tell ye? I think Patton's seein' someone."

She lowly hummed to the music, trying to formulate a response. There was no way the answer was coming from the saucy magazine article in her hand. Her inexperience and lack of knowledge in relationships really were crippling. She wasn't even interested in romance or being romanced, but more intrigued by the freedom to choose whether or not to entertain it. Mom and dad expected her to find some weasel in Yale who came from high society. _Pfft_. Whoever that was better not be like her Vanderbilt Prep classmates.

Fanny pulled herself to the foot of the bed and came closer to see a menu pamphlet for _Luigi's_ in the inside of Rachel's magazine. "AY. Are ye listenin'?"

"Of course I am. Just thinking," she uttered, refocusing her attention on Fanny's dilemma.

What were the right and supportive things to say to someone so emotionally labile? She had met Patton a couple of times and it was a good time when they all hung out; she learned that friendships had the potential to be ruined when feelings got involved. Their breakups came too frequently for Rachel to keep up every minute.

"Uh, I thought you were the one who broke up with him in the first place. So, what's wrong?"

"Well, yeah! But does that mean he's free to go off and do what he likes? It's been two days and he goes on with his life like we weren't together for the better part of the year. He hasn't even texted me today to fight! Boys are worthless," Fanny whined in her thick Irish accent, though her expression suddenly changed to one of dreamy amusement. "Good for lookin' at though. Patton had this thing where his nostrils would flare when he'd get mad. It was sexy. Made me want to jump his bones. Maybe ye'd understand if ye ever had a boyfriend."

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and continued to look at the reading material, curious if this topic could be dodged. She got this kind of talk from Fanny ever since high school started. "Ugh! Don't be gross! Plus, you _know_ I'm not allowed to date. Even if I were, I wouldn't care. Things are kinda crazy enough on planet earth, but fortunately, it continues to spin without regard to my personal life."

She continued to go on a spiel about topics that concerned activists and capitalist America, until the door of the bedroom opened to reveal a brunette.

Fanny praised the heavens. "What took ye so long, Virginia? Rachel started talkin' about renewable energy. I didn't need to relive fourth grade science."

Virginia playfully snorted and took a seat next to Rachel on the floor, a duffel bag in her arms. "My apologies for the tardy. Bartie dropped me off and he's going away with his family on a cruise tomorrow for two weeks. The goodbye took longer than expected, if you know what I mean."

Fanny smirked at the winks Virginia shot her and the look of distaste coming from the girl next to her. "Oh! I know what ye mean, but I dunno if blondie there does."

"Ha. Ha. You guys are so funny, and again, _gross_. I'm going to die from starvation thanks to your need to go fifth base or whatever," Rachel replied in a deadpan, standing to stretch her legs. She looked at her watch and decided to change the topic, holding up the menu in her hands. "Now that we're all here, can we order the pizza or what?"

Usually, they would laugh at her inaccurate comments about anything in relation to whatever they insinuated.

Instead, her friends shared matching cheeky grins, and she could tell they were excited about _something_. She fell into acute confusion when they began to throw random questions around. It wasn't a _something_ they were excited about, rather, a _someone_.

"Do ye think he's delivering tonight?"

"I think so. When Bartie and I passed by Luigi's, he was there loading his car with orders."

"Who?"

They ignored that inquiry.

"My family orders from there so much, I'm pretty sure he knows _I_ live here. But ye know that. Ye basically moved in."

Virginia cackled. "I wonder why he's still working there? He can do so much better. He could probably model for _Abercrombie_ or something."

"Oh, stop it! I'd rather the hot guy deliver to my door than stare at him from the store window or some catalogue."

 _What on earth_?

Rachel scratched her head when her face soured. She already hated being out of the loop at her own school, especially in the past year during her sham of a student council presidency. Half her executive board was the worst to collaborate when they constantly withheld information, so she hated it equally as much when her best friends did it.

"WHO?!"

"The pizza guy!" Virginia finally answered. "He's a senior this year at McClintock. He's kind of a big deal there. Quarterback, eye candy, not dumb, kind of has this bad boy thing going on. The whole package. The girls, as well as some of the guys, _love_ him."

Fanny nodded in agreement. "Aye, he's a _looker_. Ye would think the same, for someone who doesn't give a rat's arse about the opposite sex."

Rachel scoffed. The way they continued to yammer on about this guy made it seem like he was some sort of high school demigod in the form of a football playing, alpha male jock. Mix it with the 'bad boy' connotation, and it would be the perfect concoction to entice any impressionable teenager. If anyone thought that _she_ was boring and predictable, the cliché athlete should be on the same caliber.

"Right. Anyways, I want pineapple on my pizza," she commented.

"You're gross, McKenzie," Virginia snickers. "No way!"

"We can put it on half!"

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When the doorbell rang, Fanny insisted for Rachel to be the one to open the door and receive their order. It seemed to be a pretty big deal for them that she had some sort of contact with a cute boy. They thought she didn't know what one looked like. It was absurd, but she did it to try and cease their teasing.

 _Why the hell not_?

She decided to entertain them, awaiting the moment to tell her friends that physical attractiveness didn't mean anything. Regardless of the outcome, they would _still_ think she was some alien from outer space.

"Tell me good looks don't mean anything once you're pulled in by those blue eyes," the brunette stated certainly, as if she foresaw something bigger to occur. Rachel always thought Virginia's familial background of psychic mediums bizarre, not that she would ever say that aloud.

She and Fanny stood a few feet away from the door, both moving their hands in shooing motions that gestured her towards the entrance.

Rachel stood straight by the open door and well… those eyes weren't _that_ blue.

Save for the darkness of the porch and his work hat, they looked slightly violet from her position under the incandescent lighting of the hallway.

The beloved McClintock quarterback was dressed in his blue uniform shirt and lightning bolt cap that stuck out upwards. If she had to give him points for anything, it would be for the nice part of his thick bangs (which could imply a great head of hair) that appeared under that hat. The boy stood tall, probably holding an extra foot over her, exerting an aura that she couldn't quite find the words to describe.

Sure, in Fanny terms, he was a looker.

He stepped back to view the front exterior of the house. "You… are definitely not who I was expecting. Is this not Fulbright's house?"

"It is," she replied, a little too quickly and tersely by accident. She must've sounded rude and a bit hostile, as that probably stemmed from leftover annoyance she held for her peers at her school. Rachel made a mental note to correct that. "How much do I owe you?"

"I've never seen you around before," he stalled, curiosity dripping from his tone. He flashed her a devilishly charming smile. "Do you go to McClintock by any chance?"

Rachel returned the expression awkwardly, less charmingly so. "Err no, I'm one of Fanny's friends from kickboxing. I go to Vanderbilt. Twenty minutes north from here."

"I see… and oh, it's twenty bucks flat."

Fanny emerged from her backside with a grin to receive the box once Rachel handed him the cash and tip. "Ey Chad! I see ye've met my bestest friend Rachel here."

"Oh hey, Red," the boy known as Chad paused, confirming his suspicion that there was definitely giggling from behind the door. "And yes, I have. She's cute. I bet she would've made a great addition to our student body."

His handsome smile turned into something less intimidating.

The compliment _almost_ made something positive stir in Rachel.

"She woulda', wouldn't she?!" Fanny validated. "But too bad her parents have a bunch of sticks up their arses and think that the only way to Yale is stayin' in freakin' Vanderbilt. Have ye seen the kids that go there? Nowhere near as fun as us."

Virginia continued to snicker from behind the door.

Rachel gave her friend the side eye, a peculiar look, and tried to calculate where she was getting at. She felt him looking at her now too. Fanny switched the porch light on and that was when she acquired a better, albeit quick study of his facial features. _There_ were those eyes her friends promised to be _oh_ _so_ enchantingly blue. They had an ability that made her incapable of looking elsewhere.

"You should allow me to get to know her sometime."

With that, the brunette popped up from behind. "Oh hey, Dickson! Just overheard this little conversation. You know… we're not actually doing anything fun tonight besides facemasks, so you should totally come back after you're done with your shift. Take Rachel up on that. You down?"

 _Excuse me_?

Rachel, dumbstruck, felt like a deer in the headlights. She immediately got a better understanding of the situation at hand. She didn't even have time to protest.

He nodded while he started trailing backward to his car, with a grin on his face. "Give me twenty minutes!"

They waved him off when Rachel was finished trying to control her eyes that were threatening to bulge out of her head. All she could do was make incomprehensible sounds, until she finally gathered a thought. "Um, uh? What the hell just happened?"

"You're going on your first date. You're welcome. You're gonna thank us for this, one day," Virginia said giddily, until she received a glare in return. "Maybe."

Five seconds after the cause of her sudden nervousness drove away to complete his shift, Fanny and Virginia were hellbent on freshening her up, from reapplying her deodorant and almost choking her with breath mints. She didn't think she was going to get any of that pizza tonight.

One million and one thoughts flew in and out of her head before she had half the mind to push them off and away, but it was her parents she was primarily concerned about.

Her friends wanted to get her in trouble for laughs, did they? If mom and dad found out she would be alone with a someone they didn't know? And a boy, at that? Sleepover privileges would be stripped, no questions asked and no chance for appeal. She negotiated hard for this right, if the slideshow presentation she made for them wasn't enough proof.

Why would a supposedly popular football player even be interested in a private school girl anyway? It was nonsensical.

Fanny finished swallowing a piece of her pizza to address her unease. "Ye know, I remember this one conversation we had years ago. Ye said ye wished ye got to live a life like mine or Virginia's sometimes. And hey, we go behind our parents' backs. This is a chance to do something fun and harmless. Screw the rules for once. My mum and dad are at my nan's with my brothers, and yers are asleep. They won't bother to call or text. Just live a little, lass."

"I second those statements. Chad is cool. Just talk to him and get to know him. We wouldn't ask him to hang out if he were a creep," Virginia gave her input, as she shifted on Fanny's bed. "Promise."

Rachel considered the appeal of doing something secret her mother and father didn't have a part of – an insider between her and her friends, and no one else. It didn't completely banish the skepticism in her gut. "But why couldn't we have just hung out together? I don't date, you guys."

"Ye heard him! He thinks ye're cute. Ye need to learn how to talk to boys. Boys who don't go to Vanderbilt, wear their socks up to their calves, or tie their sweaters on their shoulders. Ye might actually be good at it, y'know. Ye're all eloquent and witty," Fanny justified.

Virginia asked her one more question before she decided what to do. "You're really gonna go off to college clueless on what type of people you like? Watch. Your parents are probably going to set you up with a white-collar pansy once you realize you don't know how to talk to guys."

She sighed in defeat at the thought her friend had given her. "What should I know then? Before I dive right into this?"

What her parents would never know wouldn't kill them.

She didn't expect anything to result from hanging out with a guy for an hour anyway. There would be no connection between her and someone she couldn't see herself being friends with.

There was just no way.

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"What have your friends told you about me?" Chad questioned, his hands in his jean pockets.

He left his car parked across the Fulbright residence, the summer breeze too pleasant not to take advantage of. They walked around the quiet neighborhood when he suggested they stroll over to a playground nearby.

Rachel thought for a few seconds, trying to play it cool by focusing on the trees on Fanny's block. She did everything she could to squash the feelings of apprehension, not wanting to stumble over her words and say anything that could be taken the wrong way.

When she thought about it, there really should have been no reason for all the anxiety, but here she was holding the damn sentiment anyway. Chad came back to the house with such a genuine friendliness toward her friends, that she feared she would be the odd one out.

She had the unanticipated need to be accepted.

"Oh, nothing really. Just that you're the quarterback of your school. Must be popular with the girls, am I right?" she managed to utter casually.

"Yeah, you could say that. But let me guess, you're popular with the guys at Vanderbilt."

That got her to look at him, when she actually snickered at that statement. That was too funny. "Haha. No. They don't like me much over there."

"What makes you say that?" He asked, eyebrows knitted together.

"Apparently girls like me are problematic," she explained, as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm competition – for class presidency, captain of the debate team, treasurer of French club… and I'm going to stop myself before I recite my resume verbatim. Not the best first impression, huh? I wholeheartedly apologize for my uncoolness."

Chad chuckled. "Nah, I get it. My parents enjoyed forcing me into all sorts of extracurrics too, since I could remember. They love talking their friends' ears off about it when they compared me with those kids. Boys scouts, honor roll society, drama club, violin, football. Oh God. You should see the bumper stickers on my dad's car. _My child is an honor student at Gallagher Elementary._ Then Hendry Middle, and so forth."

"Okay, you win. You're more uncool," Rachel said, authentically smiling at him for the first time tonight. Relaxing her shoulders, she was slightly less on edge, just a little bit closer to finding a comfortable groove in his presence.

"How did I go from 'popular with girls' to 'uncool' in less than a minute?" He feigned hurt and clutched his chest.

She played along. "You're sabotaging yourself, boy scout."

"Heh, okay. Fine. I want you to form your own opinion of me anyway, without influence from Pigtails and Red," Chad stated, running his fingers through his hair, fixing the flat style his work hat gave him. The boy really did have a good head of hair though.

An upward curve of her lips formed again, in response to the names he gave her friends. They continued to walk in a pleasant quietness, until she spoke again.

"So, what makes you think _I'm_ someone worth getting to know?"

"Quite the cynic, huh? I'm assuming me thinking you're cute isn't enough?"

Rachel shook her head, wrinkling her nose. "Runs in my family. My dad's a lawyer and my mom lives for finding rationales for everything when they argue. I'm pretty sure McClintock has a surplus of cute girls anyway."

Approaching the empty playground, they took seats on the squeaky swing set. Their continuing small talk added to a mixture of cricket chirps.

"I'd like to think I'm really good at figuring people out. I've never seen you around and you were pretty quick to brush me off if your friends didn't come barging in. So why not do that while also getting to spend time with a pretty girl?"

She raised her eyebrow at him, overlooking the smoothness in his words that would normally make the receiver swoon. "You're looking to figure me out for kicks and giggles then."

"I can get an idea by the time I take you back to Red's," he decided smugly, as he started to gently swing. "You can take a crack at reading me if you want, though usually when people try, they're way off."

"You're pretty cocky."

Chad considered her words, pretending to look thoughtful. "Correct, for some part. I wouldn't call it that though. I prefer the term _confident_. What else you got?"

"A smartass jock who lures girls into liking him using one-liners and relatability," Rachel deduced, a small smirk forming on her lips.

He had the decency to look shocked at her words. "You forgot to mention _devilishly handsome_ somewhere in there."

She shook her head as a huge smile threatened to replace the previous smirk; she looked down at her lap. "I don't care what my friends say about you. You're a little annoying. Don't know what they're talking about when they say you're a bad boy or whatever. I may not go out a lot, but I'm not getting that impression from a former boy scout and drama club member."

He playfully glared at her backside when she removed herself from the swing to hop over to the slide construct. "Ah, and this is when I'm starting to get a pretty good read on you now."

"Hmm?" Rachel turned around, leaning on the ladder. She was interested in hearing this new point of view on her. It had been the same negative opinions on her from most of her classmates at school for the past two years, so this should be refreshing.

"Your dad is a lawyer…" She nodded to confirm. "… and you go to Vanderbilt, but you don't sound like you enjoy it. Your best friends are Pigtails and Red, which is weird because I have never seen you around. Believe me when I say Red's dad _loves_ Luigi's; I deliver there a lot and Pigtails is usually there. What I'm getting at here basically, is that you're some sort of trust fund baby who's been sheltered her whole life. You don't go out because your parents are super strict. Oh, and someone mentioned Yale earlier. They're trying to get you to follow their footsteps."

She wasn't sure whether to be impressed or freaked out, with the way she looked at him. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Did you do a google search on me in those twenty minutes you were gone? It's a little concerning you know the Wikipedia version of my life story. That's just very weird."

"I promise I didn't. I don't even know your last name, Rach," Chad proudly disclosed. He nodded to himself. "I was right then, all in thirty minutes time. Not bad, if I say so myself."

"McKenzie."

"Hmm?"

"My last name. It's McKenzie," she admitted, unsure why she felt like she could trust him, with something as important as her surname. He could be a stalker, but considering Virginia and Fanny's earlier reports on him, she doubted that.

Chad leaned over her. Rachel wasn't used to the close proximity, but she didn't exactly fear it either. She wondered where the previous tension she felt went. The volume of his voice decreased. "Do you have anything to add on to your little character profile on me then, McKenzie?"

"You're smooth, _too_ smooth," she breathed out. She was sure he felt that and was suddenly grateful for the force-fed winter fresh breath mints. Her brown eyes trailed from his blue, down to his lips, and back up. "I think you're someone who could get me in big trouble just to waste time, but since you think you have me all figured out now, you'll be over this in like five minutes, begging to take me back to my friends."

"That's one thing you've gotten wrong about me so far," he replied coolly. The lack of distance between them didn't cease to send jolts of electricity up and down her spine. "You have my complete attention. When I'm interested, I'm _interested_. I'm also pretty persistent. I'm going to prove it to you. It seems like you have an opinion on everything, so what do you think about that?"

Rachel stayed quiet and still, more captivated by his essence than she would like to admit. She had absolutely nothing to say, awaiting his next move.

Chad moved in closer. "I'm gonna kiss you now, if that's alright with you."

"I'll be embarrassingly bad at it," was the last thing she managed to whisper before she felt another pair of lips invading her own for the first time.

Rachel knew it went against her better judgment to let some stranger just kiss her like this, but she couldn't help but want what was forbidden to her. It was weird human practice, two mouths together. But at the same time, she couldn't fight off the sensation. It was pleasantly light and chaste, as he pulled away. His boyish charms almost rendered her speechless by the time she opened her eyes.

Her cheeks turned pink and she started to giggle nervously. "Oh, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I don't do this. I never do this, actually. I don't meet up with guys I don't know in the dead of night to mess around."

"McKenzie, relax. I think you're cool. I don't think you're a floozy, if that's what you're afraid of." He took one last look at her puzzled facial expression before removing himself from her and walking over to the monkey bars. He ushered for her to follow him.

"I feel like you know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you besides the on the surface things."

"You know I play football, you made fun of me for being a boy scout, and now you know I'm a good kisser too."

Rachel flushed a deeper color, entertained by his harmless mind game. She didn't expect to be kept on her toes by the boy she deemed to be a stereotypical jock, but she guessed she was being a hypocrite.

Often, she told people not to judge a book by its cover, and here she was, doing just that.

Chad was nothing like she thought him to be. He had character: a witty conversationalist with a slight ego problem, but he caught her attention. She also couldn't help but deny that there was some sort of… _chemistry_ there.

The way he started to make her feel was something she never really experienced before. Three years being a teenager, and this was what she was missing out on? It was exciting feeling so bubbly.

Rachel realized, right there and then, a little carefree wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

She smiled. "Seriously."

He mirrored her expression. "You're adorable. Make something up from the stuff I already told you then. Girls love mysteries, don't they?"

"Okay… hmm. You're doted on by your parents," she cleared her throat. "… but you feel embarrassed and sometimes suffocated by them, as evidenced by the bumper stickers you mentioned. I don't think you have siblings; you have that only child aura. The focus on you gave you your _incontestable_ self-esteem. You've been on a silver platter your whole life, but for some reason, you're still well-liked by everyone at your school."

"See? You do know me," Chad teased, albeit impressed. Rachel hadn't even known him two hours and she knew more than some of his ex-girlfriends did. They only desired the idea of having him tamed. "Maybe if you're _really_ interested, you'll get to uncover more of the enigma that is me."

Rachel kept her nose up. "Maybe I'm not."

"But you are."

"What makes you so sure?"

Instead of answering her directly first, he took a look at the monkey bars in front of them, and back at her. "Let's play a little game. Make things more fun. If I win, I get your number. If you win, I'll answer whatever one question you ask me, regardless of whether you are interested or not."

"Are you sure about this? I've been told I have excellent upper body strength. I also can't help but think I'm being gypped," she determined as she wrinkled her nose again. "You think I'd give up my phone number just like that?"

"Absolutely. You know I think you're cute, and I'm positively certain you think I am too."

 _Goodness_.

Rachel let out another laugh, taking her right hand to her face to cover her snickering expression. "Sure, okay, fine. But you won't be so cute when you lose."

At this point, Chad was calculating ways he could make her make that sound again.

Both blonds were still dangling from the monkey bars after the ten-minute mark.

"Give it up, McKenzie. I _will_ get your number."

She stuck her tongue out at him, surprised at this new level of comfort he had gotten her to be around him in such a small amount of time. "Nope. It's obvious you're someone who doesn't like losing. I think it's becoming my responsibility to show you what that's like tonight."

"I'm going to make you eat your words," he managed to utter out. Chad was just starting to figure out that the girl next to him was a force to be reckoned with; she didn't even break a sweat yet.

 _She's strong_.

He decided to keep this piece of information for later.

Another five minutes later, it was her who let go first.

Rachel typed her number on his cellphone with false disappointment at her loss. She even had the decency to pout when he snapped a picture of her to assign as her contact photo. "I demand a consolation prize."

He couldn't resist. "Fine, but only because I think you're a worthy opponent."

Chad stole another kiss, pleased that this time she was more receptive than the first, and its longer duration. It lingered on his lips, even as she broke off the contact. He quickly memorized the way she currently looked, the flush she possessed seemingly permanent.

 _Beautiful_.

At this moment, he knew he had to have her.

"If I told you I was interested a little, what else do I get?"

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They didn't realize it was about to break dawn by the time they decided to leave the playground. It was 5 am when Rachel found herself back in Fanny's house. She made sure to close the door slowly and softly, but the clicking sound was immediately overpowered by a booming voice coming from the living room.

"RACHEL MCKENZIE, YE ARE PAST CURFEW. WHAT HAPPENED?!"

She was undoubtedly startled, a loud gasp leaving her mouth. "Jesus, Fanny. Don't give me a heart attack," she said as tried to catch her breath. "Nothing happened. He and I just talked. I gave him my number, but it's not going anywhere."

Rachel didn't even believe that was the slightest bit convincing with the way she said the word _nothing_.

Virginia rubbed her tired eyes, startled from the voice all the way from the couch, still half-asleep. "What makes you think that? He found out you like pineapple on your pizza?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders, ignoring that little quip. "I told him I don't date. My curfew is 9, and he works at Luigi's until closing most of the week anyway. There's no way he would want to hang around with me. I'm way too tame for his likes. This was enough adventure for me."

She looked back the night's events fondly. "But you guys were right. He was cool like you said. I had fun."

"Did ye make out at least? Was it good?"

Her eyes narrowed, but she shouldn't have been shocked that Fanny didn't care much about the wholesome facts.

She gave in regardless, nodding while suppressing the girliest squeak deemed to have been uncharacteristic of her. "It was."

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When she woke up around noontime, with Fanny and Virginia snoring away toppled on top of each other, it was to a text message tone. An unsaved number, but it was safe to assume she knew who it was.

' _Free to have fun tonight, McKenzie_?'

It was only the beginning of the summer, but she had a hunch it wouldn't be as boring as the previous holiday breaks: grandparent visits, community service, and afternoon tea with the snooty daughters of her father's associates.

She just needed to find a way around these damn rules.


	2. Two: Recruitment

CHAPTER 2: RECRUITMENT

 **Three Years Ago**

" _You ready to join the Teens Next Door, Miss Supreme Leader?"_

 _The older blond leaned on a secret entranceway of the main office with his arms crossed, watching her clean out her desk for a final time._

 _He was doing the very same just last year, under his fresh, new façade as a traitor. The Moonbase and Sun thing wasn't his finest moment; he could admit that much. It made him cringe actually._

 _The preteen in front of him only scolded him for a month when she assumed the position of Supreme Commander. He knew she suffered from anxiety related to long-term stress, but she still did it anyway._

 _She had no idea how much he appreciated her._

 _Rachel looked up at her former superior, shaking her head and stifling a snicker. "I will be once you take that dumb bra off. For the love of kids everywhere, Chad, seriously?"_

 _While he huffed under his breath and defended his battle ready armor, she packed an old picture of herself, Numbuh 274, and Numbuh 100 away in a box._

 _Her thirteenth birthday was tomorrow, and she embraced the feelings of excitement and fear of the next chapter of her life. As long as she had the idiot in front of her fighting by her side, the Teen Ninjas wouldn't know what hit them._

 _The dream team would be back at it again, but not before she tied some loose ends._

" _I still have one more thing to do today. After I talk to a certain someone, you and the rest of the TND have me."_

:

:

 **Present Day**

"All I'm saying is you've been going out a lot lately, doll," her father stated, cutting a piece of chicken on his plate on the dining table. "Your mother and I just want to spend some quality time with you. Before you know it, you'll be leaving for college and family time will become a rare occurrence. Time is so precious. You'll understand one day when you have your own children."

How unfair was it that Harvey was out right now with his friends doing God knows what? These lectures never applied to him.

Careful not to raise her voice at her parents, Rachel took a deep breath. "But I'm not even leaving for another two years, dad! I'm still following the rules and I come back at nine on the dot, don't I? It's vacation is all. Once the term starts, I know I won't be seeing Fanny and Virginia until that _one_ weekend before winter break. You know how my schedule is. Mom?"

"Let Rachel do what she wants for now, George. I remember what it's like to be a teenage girl, needing time with the girls. She's old enough to make decisions for herself and I take pride that she's very responsible and behaved, just as we raised her." Her mother gave her a sharp smile. "We know you wouldn't do anything to break our trust."

"Thank you!" Rachel's eyes moved from her mother and caught the stern gaze of George McKenzie. It was an expression she was very well used to, an expression she also utilized when she was in school.

Virginia called it her 'famous' resting bitch face.

"You can go out tonight, as long as you're back at or before curfew as per usual, but tomorrow you have to stay home and have tea with the Maroney sisters," he propositioned. Returning his focus on his dinner, he waited for her answer.

The 'give-and-take' was a common negotiation tactic he fancied using on her and Harvey. She assumed it was his favorite thing about parenting them.

Rachel looked at him with a grimace, but quickly switched to a neutral expression when he looked back up at her. The Maroney sisters were absolutely horrible people, but if bargaining was the only way out for her parents to stop grilling her for leaving the house, then so be it.

"Okay. I accept your proposal. Thank you, mom and dad." Rachel jumped up from the dinner table to kiss them goodbye. She looked at her small wristwatch. "I'll be back in three point five hours."

George reminded her of a few things. At this point, she wasn't sure if he had the intent to joke or he was still completely serious. "Remember! No boys, no parties, no tattoos."

"… no boys, no parties, no tattoos," she said simultaneously, wearing an overly sweet grin.

 _One out of three_.

"Say hello to the Fulbrights for us."

"Will do!"

:

:

' _How is recruitment goin_?' was a text Chad received on a weekly basis since the beginning of the break. While it was something he replied to regularly in the first two weeks after the end of junior year, it was now a text he was currently ignoring, deleting it as he shoved it down the cupholder of his car.

 _Give me a freaking break_.

Waiting for Rachel five blocks away from her house was a common practice since forming this type of unlabeled relationship of sorts a month and a half ago. He started to get the gist of the intensity of her parents' hovering when she told him to park somewhere further; he often joked about her paranoia.

Despite what she thought, he had a fun time showing her what regular teenagers did for fun. She wasn't kidding when she said she didn't go out a lot.

These activities, however, did not involve fighting annoying brats nor trashing the _Delightful Teens'_ mansion. Maybe he could show her those things another day if this plan actually sets in motion.

While the occasional ice cream dates, movie dates, and boardwalk strolls were outings usually for the enjoyment of established couples, Chad took more pleasure in her overall company and banter. She may have thought he figured her all out, but he wasn't near close at all.

His background search on her yielded practically nothing. There had to be more to her than some oppressed private school girl.

Regardless, she was interesting.

He admired that she had a certain honesty that kept _him_ on his toes. Everyone else had their head up in the clouds and expected too much from him, but she didn't.

Honesty was a rare find these days, with the one other person who could be that with him away on vacation.

Maurice wasn't even his type.

Summer would've been a hot, blazing drag without someone like her around.

Most of all, Chad appreciated the fact that she had no idea who he was at the get-go. At this point, he still had control of the playing field that allowed him to show her the best parts of him that he wanted. There were some things he was just _not_ ready to tell her. It wasn't technically dishonesty from his part.

But eventually, if he wanted her around…

He had to answer one question. Would Rachel McKenzie follow him into the life and stylings of the Teen Ninjas?

He would probably look like an asshole for leading her on these past few weeks. And for what? To join a teenage cult?

Even with her helicopter parents around, she had the potential to be amazing at undercover stuff during the weekends, recruit her private school peers during after school meetings even.

Chad shook off the long term thoughts when she appeared in his vision through his rearview mirror. He had to regain composure; this was a decision he could save for the end of August.

Father could wait.

 _For now_.

"Hey boy scout," Rachel greeted him with her personal nickname for him as she entered his car, before being attacked with quick, fluttery kisses on her neck. "I take it you're excited to see me, though you just saw me yesterday. Funny how you thought I would be the clingy one, right?"

Chad detached himself from the nape of her neck. Clingy? No one had ever used that word to describe him before, not even as a joke. He had to get a grip, but _damn_. How did she get past her parents in shorts like those? The high-waisted denim did a good job of showcasing those very nice, very toned legs.

" _Not_ clingy," he replied. "I just happen to think you look different today."

"… bad different?" She wasn't sure what she did out of the normal to be deemed that. Her ponytail couldn't have made that much of a difference, could it have? Was it her face? Virginia had given her a Korean moisturizer that she would immediately stop using if that was the case.

He looked at her incredulously. "What? Seriously? I'm all over you and you think that different means bad? You still have so many things to learn."

She laughed. "Isn't that what you're here for? To teach me to be cool and knowledgeable like you?"

"You're so inconsiderate," Chad said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Using me for your personal gain and milking me for all my street smarts. I don't know about the 'cool' thing though. I'm not a miracle worker. I'll have to send sympathy cards to Red and Pigtails."

Rachel learned early on to take him seriously only half the time.

"Aw. Anyone ever tell you that you're cuter when you don't talk sometimes?"

:

:

Pete's Putt-Putt Mini Golf was littered with people of all ages: mothers, fathers, teenagers, and children.

Whether it was family time or date night, the range was completely booked for different occasions. From an aerial view, the area was all too much green with random littering of bright colors to liven up the courses, the big volcano at the center being the landmark.

While Chad noticed the background noise of the Kids Next Door shooting the yellow condiment from their M.U.S.K.E.T.s at some of his comrades, he decided it was nothing they couldn't handle on their own. It occupied only a quarter of his attention, while at the same time not wanting his date to be suspicious.

"My dad is making me play hostess to these God-awful twin sisters tomorrow," Rachel said as she struck a golf ball with her club. Past the windmill, it went. "So don't say I never make an effort to hang out with you, boy scout. I basically made a deal to sign my soul away. For the afternoon anyway."

He set himself into position to strike his own golf ball. "And tell me how that correlates?"

"My dad loves to make deals with me and my brother when we want to do something he doesn't want us to. And since I've been going out a lot, I have to stay in tomorrow and entertain Satan's daughters. I wish he would stop trying to force a friendship between us. They shot that opportunity to hell when they ruined my _Doctor Time Space_ comics."

She watched Chad steady his club, as he muttered _nerd_ under his breath.

"Oh shut up. I just never appreciated maple syrup the same way ever again. Also, they're the reasons why I don't chew gum. Ever. When I was six, they put a wad in my hair and I rocked a bob for the longest time. You probably couldn't imagine it."

He chuckled, swinging his putter. "I need to see a picture of that."

"I'll show you mine if you show me pictures of you in your boy scout uniform."

Chad snorted. "Good luck with that. I made my mom put away all of that nonsense up in our attic. You'd have to ask her personally if you want one of those."

"Right," she replied with a flat tone. Unsure of what to say, Rachel didn't really know how to mask her sudden uneasiness.

Even if her knowledge in relationships was still lacking, she knew enough to determine that meeting the parents of someone you were casually seeing was a pretty serious deal, not that what Chad said was an invitation. They weren't even _together_ in the conventional sense.

She acknowledged their friendship developed rather quickly and intensely, and sure, they probably should've used their lips for kissing less that first night.

It didn't change the fact they didn't have a 'what are we doing?' conversation.

Even then, when they found a way to slow it down, getting to actually know him just made her _like_ him. It had gone past infatuation level and it annoyed her just a bit, eventually making her a different type of nervous from what she felt initially. It was frustrating and confusing.

She finally understood what her friends meant.

It was impossible not to like him, with the way he looked at her and read her mind at times, though she couldn't help but play hard-to-get, too. Guys liked mysteries as well, didn't they?

Rachel found calling him a friend as a loophole to the no dating rule, sort of. It didn't exactly justify that he was a boy that her parents had never met and approved of, but she decided it wasn't worth it to make him go through that unnecessary and embarrassing torture.

An unfamiliar voice broke her train of thought.

"Chad? Yo Chaddy!"

A classmate of his? The voice belonged to a boy with messily quiffed brown hair, freckles scattered on his pale complexion. Skipping the line of people ahead of him, he left their complaints ignored.

The blond boy turned around and internally cursed.

 _Damn_.

It was Cavallero.

He didn't feel like dealing with ninja politics at the moment, _especially_ with Rachel here.

"Oh, hey dude. What's up?"

"Didn't expect to bump into you here. You haven't been replying to my texts lately. _How's recruitment going_?"

"We can talk about that later," Chad said, as he signaled his head over to his date, who decided not to mind the boys and steady her putter to continue the game. "Kind of in the middle of something here."

" _Oh_."

Cavallero stared over his shoulder, wiggling his eyebrows when he understood the situation. "She's a pretty little thing. Your new project? Where'd you find her?"

He answered nonchalantly, in hopes that short answers would get rid of him. "Friend of a friend."

"I wouldn't mind seeing her around the hangouts. Mind if I introduce myself?" He was already halfway to Rachel, not waiting for a reply at all.

"Yes, I mind," Chad growled under his breath. Like the complaints of the mini golfers behind them awaiting their turn on the course, he was ignored.

"Hey hey!" Cavallero approached the girl. "Are you Chad's new girl?"

"Um, depends on what you mean," she responded, unsure. "I'm a girl, and I guess I'm a new friend?"

"You're totally pulling my leg here. You look like his type," he said as he looked over to the scowling boy and back to her. He laid out his hand for her to shake, a gesture she accepted. "Trying to hide her away from me and convincing me she's just a friend. Pssh. Anyway, I'm Justin, Chad's right-hand man, and best friend, though he hasn't been treating me like it lately. Your name is?"

"Rachel."

"Pretty name for an even prettier girl. I just came over here to say hi. I better get back to my own date over there. She's pissed about the mustard all over her clothes. Damn kids. You know how they are. And dude, I'll talk to you later when you decide to text me back. Good luck with recruiting."

Chad rolled his eyes.

Cavallero could have walked around not throwing that word around so liberally. He was probably going to spread rumors now; his hope of Rachel unexposed to the McClintock chapter of the ninjas went down the drain with that possibility.

:

:

The car ride from mini golf was silent and slightly uncomfortable, with the exception of the car radio playing a _Taylor Swift_ song _._

He parked his car on a cliff, the view overlooking the city absolutely breathtaking. Even with the lights of the buildings stealing the twinkle of the stars, there was no doubt it was aesthetically pleasing.

Rachel thought their first date would be the most awkward situation they'd ever have to experience, but she was wrong. This was it.

The current view almost made her forget that she had questions to ask him regarding the tense 'hello and goodbye' from Justin. He seemed nice enough.

She bit her lower lip, avoiding looking at him. She chose to focus on the view instead, from the comfort of the hood of his vehicle. She decided to break the silence, sounding blunt with the words that came out. "… so what are you recruiting for?"

Chad figured she would eventually inquire about Cavallero's choice of words.

"Football." An automatic response. "He's been hounding me all summer about it since practice starts in a couple of weeks. He's being really anal about it since I haven't gotten back to him. Who has time to keep up with that when you have a job? Geez, I wouldn't take the crap coming out his mouth seriously," he reasoned.

When she finally turned to face him, she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Like how I'm your new project?"

He allowed a flow of air to escape his lips, really wishing she didn't hear any of _that_. "Look, Rachel, I mean it when I say not to take him seriously. Cavallero lives for locker room talk, but I'm way beyond that now."

She wasn't entirely convinced. "I've had fun the past few weeks, Chad, but I told you on the night that we met I was never the type to indulge in all of this. I thought we both established I wasn't a… what did you call it? A floozy."

"Of course, I know you're not that!" he interjected. "Have I ever treated you like one?"

"No, but–"

"And you know why that is?"

"Why?"

"I like you, Rachel McKenzie, if that isn't obvious," Chad finally admitted, grabbing her hand. "I like hanging out with you. The only thing that Cavallero was right about is that you're my type. I honest to God wish you went to McClintock just so I could have met you sooner."

Her facial muscles were threatening to transform into a beaming grin. She wanted to see what other kinds of things she could get him to confess. Her curiosity outweighed whatever doubt there was about him previously. "What… else do you like?"

"Now you're just trying to get me to stroke your own ego, huh? And you tell me _I'm_ cocky," he said as he smirked at the small influence he had on her. Removing himself from the hood of his SUV, he stood in between her legs. "I like that you're honest with me. No one has _ever_ fought with me about my music taste before."

Rachel gasped humorously. "I'm sorry I don't like making out to _The Scum Bucket Punks_! Cool local college band from town or not, they suck."

"Debateable," Chad responded, before continuing the list of her best qualities that he fancied. How could he make himself sound less whipped? He found himself caring less with the way her twinkling, curious eyes looked at him. "I like that you're always up to have fun and try new things, for someone who's a hermit. I like that you're smart and dorky. I like and dislike at the same time that you could maybe, possibly kick my ass. I really like the way your legs look in these shorts right now–"

She quieted him with a kiss, one that had enough effort to be heated. In her becoming quite adept at that, it left him wanting more. "I knew from day one that you would get me in trouble. You're really good at appealing to girls and getting them to like you."

His hands found a way to her hips, while at the same time, his eyes were filling with want. Rachel took note of how the quality of his voice would change when they entered one of these flirtatious moods.

"So you like me too."

Giving Chad the benefit of doubt, she opted for using her hard-to-get persona. "Well, let's just say the other boys I sneak out for are… nonexistent. If I _had_ to choose someone to spend my summer nights with, I'm glad it's you, boy scout."

He chuckled, placing his forehead against hers. "Good."

"I guess we should just ride the summer out and see where this goes then, yeah?"

"Yes ma'am," he agreed, hoping the vacation would end on a great note. There were just so many factors to determine that. He took a peek at his watch. _8 o'clock_. "So Cinderella, how do you want to spend your remaining hour with me before you come back out again?"

:

:

"How has your new protégé been comparing to your previous, Benedict? Cree Lincoln was her name, if I'm not mistaken?"

A man in his forties stood in his client's office, waiting for updated documents and contracts to be signed. He looked outside the window to come into view of the Wigglestein children having tea out in the sun. How delightful.

"Correct. To address your question, he was doing just fine the last time he reported to me," the man in the silhouette suit responded. "Too many kids are on vacation right now, old friend. I won't really be able to provide you with an honest answer until everyone is back in school and I can judge his full potential.

"What did you say his name was?"

"Chad Dickson."

"If he's as talented as you say he is, I'm sure Mr. Dickson will serve you just fine."

"Indeed."


	3. Three: Distraction

CHAPTER 3: DISTRACTION

And with the snap of a finger, the lighthearted nature of the warm season transitioned into a new year of classes and assignments for students everywhere.

McClintock High School bustled with noise and productivity on its first day. As per usual, the upperclassmen took advantage of the freshmen confusion.

Chad played along, directing a few of the niners toward the opposite routes of their intended destinations early in the morning to the hazers. He was also pretty sure he convinced someone the campus was on the other side of town. Harmless fun, of course. Even he knew he was a little distracted to truly enjoy picking on the underclassmen.

It was a distraction in the form of guilty feelings when he made the decision to stop seeing Rachel.

While it would have been an interesting sight to test her potential in combat and use of weaponry and armor, his final judgment determined that she was innocent. The girl had no malicious bone in her body. Being a proficient ninja called for drive and ambition for the particular cause. What business did she have fighting against a bunch of snot-nosed brats in the name of Father?

Ironically enough, she should be in the Kids Next Door challenging her parents for the rights that her little brother had. That was something she talked to him about for hours.

So where did that leave them exactly?

There was a myriad of unanswered text messages sitting in the inbox from the girl plaguing his thoughts. Staring at the cellphone laying still in his locker, Chad debated whether or not to fight against the urge to reply.

' _Psst, boy scout._ '

' _I'm so upset. The season finale for DTS was disappointing. On top of that, I think my brother knows about… this._ '

' _I have a bunch of blackmail anyway. Nothing fun to do tonight?_ '

' _Working?_ '

' _School starts in less than a week. Would love to hang out once or twice before it does_. _:)_ '

' _I'll treat ya! :p All the rocky road ice cream and pizza you can eat_.'

' _Scratch the pizza. You're around that stuff four out of seven days of the week. Um, burgers?_ '

' _We'll do whatever you want. Even if it's just listening to those_ amazing _bands in your car_.'

' _I went to the mall with Virginia today and saw an angry football bobblehead. Made me think of you. Get why? Because you play football and you have the worst road rage._ '

' _That busy, huh?_ '

' _I think I'm starting to embarrass myself, aren't I?_ '

' _You don't have to worry about me going psycho clingy. It was nice knowing you, Chad. Wishing you luck on getting accepted to Ohio State_.'

He hadn't responded to Rachel's messages in days. It took all the willpower in him not to drive to her, pick her up, and take her someplace where it could just be the two of them alone again. Despite his original intention, acting on the sentiments he held would serve as a distraction.

After all, Chad had a pre-planned agenda for his senior year.

Finish Father's list of scheduled objectives for up until December. Then repeat until May.

Acquire a recommendation letter from him, and maybe some of his associates.

Bring the McClintock football team to victory at playoffs.

Get accepted to Ohio State.

Win some scholarships.

Thwart at least eighty percent of Kids Next Door plans (eighty because he was being realistic).

And finally, graduate with a bang.

He had no time to accommodate a steady relationship, especially with an image to upkeep among his student body and ninja comrades. He also knew Rachel well enough now to know that she had an image too.

There were billions of fish in the sea. _For her_. Chad realized he had to stop telling himself this; it only pissed him off. But then he remembered she would be living a regular life with whomever, and that person would be deserving of her twinkly eyes and smile she said she always hated.

He tried not to think of the times Rachel acted as a source of comfort when he was dead exhausted from missions and work, having to pick up the slack from absent members who went on vacation. They would go to the park, find a spot under a tree, and he would just lay his head on her lap listening to her talk about her day. He tried not to think about the familiar sense of ease it gave him. He tried not to think about anything related to her.

But it wasn't working, with the way Chad's brain was betraying him.

He felt a hand clasp his back quickly. It was his self-proclaimed right-hand man, Cavallero.

"Yo! Back to school party at my humble abode tonight. Step-dad decided to take my mom on a weekend trip. We are getting trashed! You in, dude?"

"You don't have to ask me twice," Chad huffed a breath. It was a distraction to mask another distraction, and nothing seemed to be sound greater than that at the moment.

Justin grinned like an absolute idiot, beginning to fade into the wave of the hallway crowd. "Bring your girlfriend with the legs!"

"Don't know what you're talking about. She's not my girlfriend," he said, with a flattened affect and wishing not to sound bitter. He also tried not to be mad about the comment about her legs.

Placing his red varsity jacket and closed his locker, he came face-to-face with someone he had not seen since the last day of junior year.

A boy with dark colored skin dressed in a green cargo jacket leaned on the locker adjacent to Chad's, arms crossed, and eyebrow raised. "Who's not your girlfriend?"

"Maurice," he greeted. A usual smirk finds its way on his face at the sight of his old friend. "Where the hell have you been all break? Did Cree lock you up in her sex dungeon or something?"

Maurice narrowed his eyes at the mention of his ex-girlfriend and the words _sex dungeon_. "You have issues. You don't have to impose your weird fetishes on me and someone I've broken up with _months_ ago."

"You know I kid," Chad snorted with a stupid grin. "I know you're claustrophobic."

"You're a jackass," he replied, with a small amused huff. "I went to Louisiana to visit my little sister. Of course, you'd forget with your vacation send-off to recruit of the month and all. I could have lived and died in peace without seeing all of that. So thanks."

 _Oh yeah._

The blond tried to remember who it was Maurice was talking about. Whoever it was, she was irrelevant now. He shook that thought out of his head. The two boys started to approach the cafeteria, the loud atmosphere indicating they were near.

"I tried texting you about _work_ ," Chad said. "What the hell did you do with all your communication lines by the way? _He_ was riding me really hard with random pickups and deliveries."

"I turned everything off: phone, communicator, everything. I would have loved hearing about your adventures at _Luigi's_ ," Maurice continued playfully, "… but I don't spend time with my family all that often."

"Funny. Your sense of humor has gotten better."

He shrugged his shoulders. "But we have all of today and the party later to catch up or whatever, unless you're still doing that recruiting bullshit."

Chad shook his head slowly, looking at the floor of the school. "Meh. Not really. I'm actually a minute away from telling him to choose someone else for the head of recruiting. Hope he takes it well and doesn't burn me before I get that recommendation. I'll make up for it. Whatever."

"So, if you haven't been doing that, what the actual hell have you been doing all summer? I don't believe for one second that you've been perfecting your pizza dough," Maurice wondered. "Don't tell me your parents forced you into some weird club activity with them again."

"Absolutely not. They haven't tried that since family bowling league in sophomore year. Thank God," the blond sighed lightly. He opened the doors to the cafeteria. "But I met a girl."

:

:

Vanderbilt Preparatory Academy would always be the same each year, with the same brown hallways, the same self-righteous, holier than thou classmates, and the same condescending educational staff.

The first few people Rachel encountered at the entrance of the premises were her former executive board from student council from the previous year: Bruce, Ashley, David, Constance, and Lenny Wigglestein. She honestly thought they were the banes of her existence at one point a few months ago, being the reasons nothing ever got passed and her presidency being deemed ineffective. What a group of weirdos. Even with her one year of additional experience in student government, they found ways to overpower her fair judgments.

Then again, maybe presidency wasn't for her. Being the fundraising officer in ninth grade didn't mean she would make a good leader in tenth grade.

"Hello former President McKenzie," the five greeted her monotonously. Rachel had known them quite a while, but the groupspeak never failed to give her the creeps. Hadn't anyone ever addressed how odd that was? "How was your summer holiday?"

"It was pleasant. Thanks for asking," she politely replied. Small talk with them was like pulling teeth. "And yours?"

Receiving cold smiles from all of them, the robotic upward curves of their lips never felt genuine or welcoming. "It was delightful. May student council be as productive and enjoyable as last year. We expect you to run for president again, of course."

"Sure. I'll be off on business now. Have a good school year."

Rachel internally scoffed, but maintained her calm and cool behavior, as she watched the five of them walk away to creep the new students out.

She needed a few minutes to herself to gather her energy and act as a willing member of the welcoming committee. She didn't particularly feel like herself, too busy having a metaphorical itch that she couldn't scratch.

She really had to go through another dull school year?

The fact that summer was really over finally dawned on her and sunk in. She used to look forward to the academic year, but now she felt like those kids who had post-summer vacation depression. It felt just like yesterday that she was sitting and allowing Fanny and Virginia to talk her ear off about getting a boyfriend.

Rachel acknowledged that romantic relationships had appeal. Fine. They had that on her.

Would she be indulging herself in one soon? No, because it's still against the rules of her mother and father, and the time for careless fun was over. She did what Fanny said, and she lived a little. Wasn't her ideal scenario to experiment, be done with it, and go back to her routine anyway?

It didn't help ease her mind when she realized that she was _totally_ right about the one boy she found herself liking. She felt like an idiot when she came to the conclusion that Chad got _bored_ of her. If ignoring her messages weren't an indicator that he was over whatever they had, what was it then? Rachel had half the mind to delete his number, only because she should have stuck to her belief in the beginning that he was a passing fancy.

She cursed herself during her lunch period when she looked over at their pictures from the past three months instead.

Fanny and Virginia told her that he was definitely just busy with getting his priorities straightened out, but if they were right, he could've at least let her know.

Chad was that one exception she would have allowed herself to bend her parents' rules for. She tried not to get too upset, knowing that this was anticipated teenage male behavior. Rachel remembered something her father stated once when he found out that Fanny had a boyfriend. " _Boys always have expectations, doll. Even disciplined boys like Mr. Drilovsky._ "

She felt relief and happiness that whatever they had stopped early on and didn't go on any further. She couldn't believe she actually had plans to let it get serious.

She had to tell herself he wasn't the right person.

Chad often made her feel suspicious anyway, with his occasional latenesses and messy hair when he showed up to their dates. He was probably seeing other girls. He smelt like nacho cheese sometimes too, so it wouldn't have come as a shocker if he was messing with a girl from the neighboring Mexican restaurant or something.

Whatever. It was fine. He had that right. She'd rather not find out now, not having a desire to shatter the illusion of the great couple of months they had. They were great memories.

Rachel couldn't help but hold an inkling of annoyance by being left in the dark. Especially by him. It gave her a sense of déjà vu.

For now, she had to shake the thoughts of Chad Dickson out of her head before she got a headache.

:

:

Justin threw decent parties. It's not like anyone had ever doubted this.

"Leave that vase alone, you goddamn animals! Does this look like the Delightfuls' mansion?!"

But he still had a lot of things to learn, such as hiding the family valuables. Every host who wasn't an amateur knew that was the number one preparty ritual.

No one paid Cavallero any mind, opting to enjoy the pleasant boom of the trap music from someone's playlist. Even with the night still being young, it was acknowledged that the best parties were thrown at the beginning and at the end of the year. Yet the early timing indicated that none of the current guests had adhered to the potluck etiquette; the guests had to settle for the weak jungle juice and canned hard lemonades.

Juniors and seniors were all welcome, with the exception being Justin's little brother and two of his friends. Niners had to be filtered out by bouncers and security, after all. They were cheap labor.

Hopefully, Justin didn't find something to cry about this time.

Everyone who had the pleasure to meet him knew of his desire to be the new generation 'The Steve' Stevenson, but it was a title to be earned. Chad recalled how drunk Cavallero got at the end of junior year and how upset he got at the fact that three years had passed since The Steve's graduation and not one person called him 'The Justin.'

" _Because 'The Justin' sucks!" a random female attendee yelled over the music. "It's stupid, corny, and uncool."_

 _Cavallero, climbing up on his wooden coffee table, challenged the stranger. His inebriated state was clearly evident by the way he struggled to stay still._

" _YEAH? BUT YOU THINK 'THE STEVE' IS COOL?"_

" _HELL YEAH, BY TENFOLD."_

 _He stopped wobbling and stayed still, considering the words of that girl, and suddenly started to sob. "Yeah, you're right. It's the coolest name ever."_

Chad and Maurice stood by the staircase, their own drinks in hand, watching the host turn red at the baseball team and confiscate Gary Johnson's bat.

It was too early to be drunk, but now that Chad thought about it, he had actually never seen his friend be that, or the very least, tipsy. It was like he never allowed himself to let go. There was also the fact that he had to drive Cree home whenever she got sloppy, but she was away in college now. Hm. Maybe he was just a heavyweight.

"So pizza delivery and Father bullshit aside, you say you spent your summer showing a private school girl around town?" Maurice grinned at him, in a teasing manner between chums. "And all you did was kiss and sometimes hold hands? That's actually kinda wholesome, Dickson, knowing you."

Chad shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip of the liquid that should really just be labeled juice. "It pisses me off that I don't know what I want to do. I asked her out to recruit her then _this_ happens. I'm off my A-game and I suddenly don't want to find others to recruit because I'm always thinking about her. I'm whipped."

"Well, it sounds like you're into her– "

"Well gee, thanks, doctor. That's the problem. I _really_ am. She never played mind games with me. That's basically everyone else I've brought to be inducted to the ninjas who wanted me to be their boyfriend," he paused, and his voice went flat. "Oh God, I can't even imagine actually telling her about that. Not that it matters. I already ghosted her. I should just accept the fact that I'm an eternal jackass."

Maurice thought about what to say. He'd never heard Chad complain and be so perplexed about girl problems with actual substance before.

"Maybe it was for best. I mean, yeah, it sucks because Father has been looking at the numbers lately and he's not happy. Like you said though, you got your life and she's got hers goin' on trying to climb the ladder up to Yale."

"She doesn't deserve what I did to her, and I'm going to leave it at that because I'm so uncomfortable getting all up in my feelings." Chad scowled. "This is what she's got me doing."

Maurice chuckled lightly, having heard similar words a few years ago about a former friend. It's not like his boy remembered. If this situation was anything like that one, decommissioned or not, Chad wasn't going to shut up – _especially_ if it was about someone important to him. He decided to help make his mind up.

"Let's start hashing out your options then if you want her."

"Options?" he scoffed. "My options are either a) I leave her alone _or_ b) I leave her alone."

An unamused expression formed on Maurice's lips. "Okay. We won't talk about it anymore. She'll be left alone."

A moment of silence arose between the two, _until_ Chad once again found himself wondering what she was doing at the very moment.

"Screw it. Let's go pick her up. I'm gonna make things right."

"You're not gonna sing outside her window, are you?" the dark-skinned boy quipped and grinned, when his friend's eyes narrowed. "Alright, alright. You're lucky I'm not in the mood to watch this fool pin these punks down. I'll drive. I wanna meet her."

:

:

Rachel's best pajama set and fuzzy purple robe did little to give her comfort from the underlying thoughts she held. She sat at her white desk, planning out her itinerary for the week. She scheduled herself for volunteer service on Monday and Tuesday, the club fair took place on Wednesday, and SAT prep classes were on Thursday and Friday. After the careless summer she had, it was time to invest energy into the things that mattered. She needed to return to her old rhythm and be productive. Her planner was still pretty bare, but it was still only the first week.

It was funny how quickly things changed. Last week, Chad took her to stargaze on the hood of his car. And now, they were nothing to each other.

She tried to meditate these thoughts away, assuming a position on the floor with her legs crossed. She closed her eyes, paid close attention to her breathing pattern, the quiet serenity of her environment, and the tapping of her balcony door… wait, what?

Rachel's eyes opened wide instantaneously when she turned around to find a silhouette through the glass door. She rushed to the door and made sure her voice was only slightly above a whisper. "Chad! What the hell are you doing here?"

"McKenzie–" he said from the other side of the glass, a little too loud for her liking.

She opened the door and shushed him, correcting his volume, making sure no one in the house was disrupted.

"I know this looks bad, but I wanted to apologize for being an ass. I'm sorry I haven't called or texted you. Can you let me in so we can talk?"

Her door was only still ajar, and the only thing Chad caught a glimpse of is her in her lilac robe and how she styled her hair in a bun.

"Why should I let you in? The summer is over, Chad. You and I have no reason to talk to each other. Make projects of the McClintock High girls, not me. Let's just leave what we had as is and get back to normal."

"Wait, don't shut the door on me yet," he whispered in a slight panic, foot halting the closure. "I don't want to go back to normal, unless normal is having you in my life. I mean it, Rachel. I've been thinking about our situation for a while."

She considered his words. "Then why haven't you texted me back?"

"I have a reputation at McClintock, you know that," he said quietly. "Like your friends said at the beginning, I have an image. Yeah, I'm well-liked but I'm still not the best guy to be around. Let's just say, children don't really like me."

Rachel grimaced, her mind reaching outrageous conclusions. "Um, what are you implying? Are you some sort of child predator?"

"What?! NO!" Chad's response was met with a hand to his mouth, but for him, it was an opportunity to push both of them into her room. "I can't tell you everything right now, but I am asking you to just trust me. I am definitely, absolutely, and never will be that. I'll explain myself more in due time. I was just scared of you hearing something convoluted about me before I was ready. Especially after you met Justin."

He took a second to study her room, when he waited for her to think about what he said. It was everything he expected it to be: tidy, with her favorite color schemes of teal, purple, and white. She had a string of lights over her bed's headboard and there were glow in the dark stars littering her walls.

Her silence urged him to go on and take in Rachel's bare face and brown doe eyes. "I just want to be the guy you met, okay? The one you formed your own opinion of? The boy scout you kind of think is a dork, but you like. I mean the other things I said. I _do_ really like you, and I miss you. I promised you weeks ago I'd teach you to drive, didn't I?"

"No, you laughed at me when I asked, you jerk," she said as she cleared her throat lightly. Even though she understood there were things he couldn't explain right now, she still had questions she wanted answers to. "I don't know what to believe at this point. But I have one question. Were you messing with other girls before you'd pick me up?"

"What makes you think that?"

"It looked like you came from other dates sometimes, alright? I'm not an idiot. You were late, your hair was messed up–"

"Trust me, Rachel. You _were,_ and you _are_ the only girl I have time for," Chad confessed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "These things you've noticed… you'll understand soon. But please, for now, all I'm asking is for you to trust me."

She took a moment to let his words sink into her brain. Her parents often told her forgiving someone so easily was stupid and therefore, would lead to more stupid. Somehow, she didn't feel any ill intentions from Chad.

"Okay, boy scout. I trust you. But in all seriousness, what do you want from me? What exactly are we doing? I can't just go back to the way it was with you. We both have school now."

Chad had never appreciated her nickname for him more. Smiling as he leaned down to be at eye level with her, he entered her personal space. "Then I have a proposition for you. You want it different, you say. Let me try this negotiating thing with you. I call it making things official. You get to call me your boyfriend, and I get to call you my girlfriend."

 _Wow. Smooth_ _as ever_.

Rachel felt an embarrassing blush creep on her cheeks, paired with a stupid smile. But to him, it was the most beautiful she had looked.

She let out a breath and regained composure. "I don't know. I think I'm being gypped. What else am I–"

She was interrupted by the soft, firm placement and movement of Chad's lips on hers, his hands on her flushed cheeks. At pulling away, he allowed his blue eyes to do the work for him by convincing her to say yes.

"Okay. I accept," she lightly laughed.

Chad genuinely smiled in return. "Now get changed. You can't wear those Rainbow Monkey slippers where we're headed."

"What? Where are we going?"

"Your first party. Don't worry, I saw your friends there on my way out. You won't feel weird. My friend Maurice is waiting for us six blocks down."

"I can't just sneak out," Rachel explained, caught off guard. She frowned, really wanting to go. "My curfew is even earlier now! Eight was two hours ago."

"You've snuck out before! You're good at it," he replied. "What makes a Friday night during the school year any different? You're lucky your parents knock out so early. Thank the pharmaceutical gods for sleeping aids."

"Ugh! You and your peer pressure," she pretended to complain, quietly. There goes golden rule number two out of the window. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Wait out the balcony and turn around, you creep," Rachel murmured bashfully. "I'm gonna change."

"Yeah, of course."

Chad returned to the fresh nightly autumn air, leaving her to scurry off and rush to find something to wear. Deciding to sport a plum colored long-sleeved tee and a grey denim skirt, she dressed up in a record five minutes. After undoing her hair, she stuffed her bed with pillows in a way to make it look like she was asleep in it, her routine whenever she snuck out after hours.

 _Just in case_.

She found him staring at the crescent moon when she left her room.

"I'm ready," she said, noticing the affection in Chad's eyes as he looked her up and down.

"Not quite."

He removed his prized varsity jacket off his person. He had never given it to someone he had liked before, not one ex. Only a few girls in McClintock had the honor to show off its significance, and those were his teammates' girls. He stood behind Rachel for her to put her arms through.

She looked perfect.

"Now there's my girlfriend."

:

:

It had been more than ten minutes at this point.

Maurice decided to just put the car in idle mode and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. Depending on how this plan goes, he was either meeting Chad's new girlfriend in a few minutes or he was going to have to haul his drunk ass back home at one in the morning.

Dickson wouldn't even be the one to get in trouble. Mega Mom and Destructo Dad would stupefy him for all he was worth if he was caught stuffing their beloved son through his window. May the odds be in Chad's favor.

He was happy for his friend. Chad deserved _some_ semblance of normalcy in his life, and if that came in the form of a nice girl who made him happy? Who could deny him that?

Maurice wished he had the same experience but spending a good chunk of his teen years with Cree made him happy too. Through the bad, there were also good (it was a small list, but they _were_ some promising qualities). With her attendance in college, it just wouldn't have worked out anymore. Their break up prior to his vacation was explosive, with his status as a Teens Next Door agent almost compromised.

Even though he accepted that the events of the past few years were for the best, he couldn't help but miss Numbuh 274. It surprised him at the decommissioning how not at all different Chad Dickson was, but it was still a shitty circumstance to have him fully devoted to the opposite side.

It didn't change the fact that he was still missing the parts that made him Numbuh 274. For one, he didn't have so much _angst_ , but that was a good thing.

If it wasn't Cree's activities he was keeping tabs on and controlling, it was the blond's. He was fortunate that Chad was the lesser of two evils, especially now that he was Father's new apprentice. Tough and talented, but he was still the lesser. While spending time with his family was much needed during the vacation, keeping the TND line open to new and constantly updating information was important. That was the one means of communication he maintained.

In the end, it wasn't even necessary. Chad wasn't up to anything, which he found really suspicious. Not even Abby had reached out to him.

Now that Maurice understood why this was, he determined this girl to be heaven sent to act as a great distraction. He hadn't known anyone to be of such importance to Chad since…

 _Rachel McKenzie_?!

He rubbed his eyes to make sure they weren't deceiving him. The blonde girl he hadn't seen in years was currently laughing and walking hand-in-hand with his best friend. This would have been nice information to hear from the TND! There was no way this could be happening.

"Hi," she greeted him for the first time in three years, unknowingly. "Maurice, right? Chad's told me so much about you. I'm Rachel."

The couple sits in the back seat, and Maurice can see both of them through the rearview mirror. "That's the name… and uh, nice to meet you."

Maurice could swear he almost forgot how to make proper conversation, considering the amount of shock he was in. He wasn't even sure if he was in the proper condition to drive.

He just wanted to study her.

What kind of person had she made herself to be today? Was there any chance she… ?

He felt Chad nudge the driver's seat with his knee. "Right, right. I'll start the car now."

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long," Rachel said in an attempt to break the ice. "I was caught off guard when Chad made his way up when I was meditating. He even made me believe he was a child sex offender there for a minute. I'm not even supposed to be out right now."

She chuckled nervously, wanting a good impression from the driver. Over the summer, Chad often told her stories that started with " _My friend, Maurice,_ " so she felt like this meeting was important.

Friends had such great influence on relationships, after all.

"Hey!" Chad interrupted, a playful smile on his face. "This was Maurice's idea. Creepy isn't part of my character profile. And you came up with the sex offender thing by yourself."

Maurice stayed quiet during these moments, taking a peek at the rearview mirror ever so often. He even saw Rachel smile at him through it, displaying her friendliness and warmth.

This wasn't good.

Well, it was good that the years had kept her kind and hadn't drastically transformed her, but it would have been the best case scenario if Chad steered clear.

"He isn't much of a talker, is he?" he heard Rachel whisper.

Chad furrowed his eyebrows, trying to justify the questionable behavior.

"He is… he's just a super focused driver. He went crazy when I left a small dent on his dad's van. Remind me to tell you about that when you start driving. Word of advice: don't try to throw tapioca at another car while in motion."

Maurice made sure years ago that Rachel was taken care of, wiped off databases belonging both to the KND's _and_ Father's, hidden and not to be targeted by absolutely _anyone_. He should have expected her to find some way back to them.

For now, all he could do was to start formulating a plan to carry out the promise he made: keep Chad away from Rachel.


	4. Four: Guilt

CHAPTER 4: GUILT

 **Three Years Ago**

 _The box of Numbuh 362's belongings was his primary reason for visiting, but naturally, Numbuh 9 also felt the need to apologize for the events of the previous week._

 _Her hospital room was private and was beginning to be illuminated from the rising sun. It was probably the best her parents' money could provide. Security and medical staff were a bit difficult to bypass, but fortunately enough, doable._

 _At first, Maurice just stared at her comatose figure for a few moments. He had no words as he tried to make peace with her body, with himself._

 _His attention eventually drifted to the colorful get well soon cards, the balloons, and the flowers, probably sent in by operatives. If anything, he was the only being in the room emitting a bad energy, full of melancholy and full of guilt._

" _I'm so sorry this happened to you, sir," he started. "I heard from Abby what Dr. Lincoln thinks could happen once you wake up. Your little bro is also busy getting those scans read. We all know you can make it."_

 _No response, as expected. All he heard was the continuous beeping of her vitals monitor._

 _Maurice saluted her for one last time, needing to leave before the nurse in charge made her early morning rounds._

" _I promise you, Rachel. I'll take care of everything so you don't have to worry anymore. That includes Numbuh 274."_

:

:

 **Present Day**

The party was reaching its peak by the time the three made their way back to the Cavallero residence. Rachel admitted to herself that the car ride was a bit awkward and tense, but she didn't want to tell Chad that Maurice was giving her side eye. That was his best friend, after all.

Instead, she focused on taking in the atmosphere of the casual teenage get together. While some danced to the thundering beat of the bass, others were too busy making games out of their drinks and ping pong balls. Maybe she could even learn how to play Flip Cup at one point tonight or another. The cheers associated with those games attempted to overpower the music, but it just wasn't enough. The smell of beer mixed with fading air freshener also invaded her nose.

There must have been _at least_ a two hundred McClintock High School students currently littering around the house; that was precisely the number of the entire student body at Vanderbilt. Rachel was pretty sure this was a fire hazard, but she was no firefighter.

Another thing she took note of was that a handful of the guests were in some sort of full body armor, from head to toe. Anime and gaming nerds? Cosplayers? No one at her school ever wore anything besides their standard uniform, so what an interesting sight it was for nerds to be included in the festivity. It was wholesome of a public school to bring people of different interests together.

For now, she allowed Chad and Maurice (who was still very odd, despite no longer being behind the wheel) to show her around when the host himself approached them.

"Hey! I know you," Justin enthusiastically greeted, no longer agitated like an hour prior. He noticed the jacket on her shoulders, the sign of a football player being off the dating market. He turned to Chad, with a heavy grin. "Dude, you're such a liar. I knew she was your girlfriend. Rachel, right?"

Chad answered first, placing his right arm around her shoulders. "Yep, she's mine starting tonight."

"Thanks for having me, Justin." Rachel smiled at him, not seeing what caused Chad to express such wariness before.

"No problem at all," he replied, winking at the couple. "Rules for the Cavallero household though: no hooking up in the bedroom at the end of the hall upstairs _and_ if you can break it, just don't touch it. Otherwise, just let loose and have fun."

"Don't worry. She's really good at following rules. Practically an expert," Chad added, earning him a smack on the arm, but also getting her to laugh.

"Are you jealous, Maurice?" Justin wiggled his eyebrows at the boy, whose silence was no longer appreciated.

"Jealous of what?"

"I met Chad's girlfriend first. I'm definitely his _best friend_ ," Justin attempted to boast, alcohol absolutely running through his body and affecting his brain. Regardless, he already had a pre-existing inferiority complex when it came to being the blond boy's right hand.

Maurice rolled his eyes, not particularly caring for Cavallero's heightened sense of emotions. "Yup. Definitely. So jealous."

Someone get this drunk fool away from him.

"Let's do a round of shots, you guys. You have to. I just made the rule up right now." He ushered the group to his kitchen, where dozens of clear and colorful bottles were on the counter. Rachel had never seen these types of drinks before and tried not to exhibit any intimidation.

Chad leaned down to speak softly in her ear. "You up for this? If not, just tell me. I'll take care of you either way, you know that."

"I've had a glass of wine before. I'm not _completely_ in the dark," she said. "I'll try whatever he's offering, as long as I don't get too crazy. I don't plan on climbing back up my balcony plastered."

 _Cute_.

She looked up at his familiar smirk. "This isn't that five percent stuff, McKenzie. Just warning you."

"Like you said, you'll take care of me. I _trust_ you."

When Justin finished pouring the funky colored liquid into four disposable plastic shot glasses, he pushed three towards them and kept one for himself. He raised his own and made a roast. "You'll like this one, Rach. All the girls, they say it tastes like blue. Anyways, to new friendship!"

In contrast to the three boys who ingested their shots like they had been doing so professionally for years, her expression soured at the taste and the burn at the back of her throat. Rachel felt the warm sensation spread down to her stomach. Chad found himself charmed by her reaction.

"Oh wow, tastes like a color, alright."

"Good stuff, am I right? I'm gonna get back to my other party guests, do some rounds upstairs, and make sure everything is okay," Justin announced, suddenly in a hyperactive state and put his hand on the quietest one of the group. "And Maurice, lighten up and turn that frown upside down. You look like you need three more. Of the stronger stuff. I give you my blessing of cracking the tequila open."

:

:

Chad found himself smiling for the hundredth time that night, this time at the shock her friends had for seeing her tonight. Rachel told him she thought she wouldn't see them until late November, but no. He didn't want that for her.

She laughed and socialized with Virginia, Fanny, and Patton, feeling a pleasant buzz take over her being after another shot of something red and a glass of punch. It was a sufficient amount of beverage for the night if she wanted to return home without her judgment completely impaired.

As for him, it would sadly just have to be soda and water if he wanted both of them safe. It was worth having her with him tonight and for as long as they weren't sick of each other. Chad also had to keep himself sober to be the overprotective boyfriend if someone disrespected her. The poor bastard who would dare hit on her would be sorry until the day he graduated.

Rachel handled herself well, and he made sure she was under the care of her friends.

Considering other matters, Chad had to investigate why Maurice was acting unusual after he and Rachel got inside the car. He found his friend leaning on the wall by the entrance of the kitchen, tapping busily on his phone.

"Hey," he greeted, taking a swig of his generic cola.

Maurice looked up at him and put his device away. "Hey. We need to talk."

"Obviously. Why are you being so weird? You were fine before we left. Do you have a problem with Rachel?"

He looked down at the buttons of his green jacket, unsure how to explain what the exact issue was. Abby hadn't responded to his SOS yet. Maybe this conversation would get the job done.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way. I just feel a really bad energy from her, man."

"Of course I'm going to take what you're saying the wrong way," Chad argued, a mixture of extreme confusion and irritation building up within him. He furrowed his eyebrows. "You encouraged me to go after her. You even hyped me up on the way. And I'm glad I did. Bad energy? You hung out with Cree and her mom too much."

"Don't recruit her, Chad. I'm serious," Maurice warned. "Don't even let her know what we do."

"I told you I _wasn't_ anymore. And why? You think she's a threat to the Teen Ninjas? To Father? To me?"

Not quite… maybe the other way around.

He didn't disclose this. A sigh escaped his lips. "Well, no."

Chad felt his annoyance and anger grow, at the end of his tolerance with how his friend was acting. Even Cavallero, at times obnoxious, was the better friend tonight. At least he respected Rachel. Maurice had secrets, sure, but he was usually honest when it involved him or some girl he was seeing. He scoffed.

"Of course Rachel's not a threat. She's perfect. Her record is clean. I've searched her name on every database there is at least a dozen times. Did you know she saved a cat from a tree when she was ten? How freaking scandalous. Sorry that I'm not sorry, but I'm going to have to pass on your sad excuses."

Maurice decided to try and knock some sense into Chad's head using his earlier concerns to his advantage, and the fact that the blonde girl in question just arrived to listen in from the corner of the hall. Maybe she would walk away and end their budding relationship.

"Let me be honest then. Now that I've met her, she's a plain Jane, private school goody two shoes. Rachel has nothing to offer you. Why did you decide on _her_ of all people to go steady with? You've hooked up with better and you can _do_ better. I don't get why you're wasting your time with some prudish virgin. You have too much on your plate to play games."

"Why do you suddenly care who I'm involved with? What the actual hell is wrong with you?" Chad's blood boiled.

The girl finally peeked her head from the corner fully, looking Maurice in the face. The blond boy turned around.

Rachel was offended and stung by those words, and that was a fact. She tried not to look so hurt; after all, she was used to criticism from classmates, her parents, and her parents' friends. Hearing that she wasn't good enough was always upsetting, regardless of who said it. She always took the high road and ignored it. The alcohol she ingested almost made her emotional, but _no._ She would stand her ground and act as if it didn't affect her.

"Am… am I interrupting something important here?"

Maurice knew what he was doing, but that didn't change the fact that the current situation was making him grimace and cringe on the inside. Rachel was someone very dear to him one point in his life and he didn't want to be a reason for her being upset. He wanted to cut their ties clean, but that wasn't in the cosmos for them. The guilt he once thought he buried long ago had resurfaced.

He needed Abby to intervene however she could.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I also apologize you had to experience my bizarre behavior tonight, but I don't think you guys are right for each other. I'm not sure what Chad told you about certain topics, but I don't think you would fit in with us. It doesn't look like it right now, but I _am_ his friend and I'm just looking out for his best interests."

"Screw you, Maurice," Chad said, walking over to Rachel to grab her hand and leave the scene. He crossed the line, insult after insult. Those digs were unnecessary. "You never even gave her a chance and the only thing she's done is try to talk to you. I'm not sure what someone put in your drink, so talk to me when you're not spewing nonsense. Let's go, Rach."

:

:

"I really have no idea what's gotten into him," he tried to reason. They lounged in Cavallero's bedroom, thankful that the host kicked out whoever was there previously. "He's the one who wanted me to patch things up with you. I don't regret anything but letting you walk into that."

"You don't have to try and justify Maurice's words and actions." She gave him a small smile, feeling light and pausing to watch his schoolmates outside drink something questionable from a kiddie pool by the window. "I'm used to mean words. You've known him for _years_. You've only known me for a couple of months. I trust that he's a good guy from all the stories you've told me. Please don't be mad at him for too long, especially not over a girl."

"But–"

Rachel sat across from him and put a finger to his lips.

"Don't try to reassure me, boy scout. I heard what you said and I appreciate you so much. Maybe there's some truth to his words. It sucks, but it's true. I'm working on being a better version of myself."

"I like you the way you are now."

She lazily smiled at him, her fingers now playing with the frayed ends of her skirt.

"I like the person I become when you're around. I didn't care about any of this before, y'know, going out and dating around. As long as I had Fanny and Virginia on a group chat, I was fine listening to my parents. School has been my life for years. Then you come along, act like you've known me my whole life, and make me want to be part of your world." Rachel hiccupped. "I can't tell what being drunk is like, so please stop me if I'm being messy right now. Ginny gave me something purple before I went off to find you and I don't even know…"

Chad chuckled at her last few sentences. Pigtails was double the bad influence than he was, trying to get Rachel inebriated. "I don't think you're drunk… yet, anyway. I think you were about to confess how much you like me."

She opened her mouth to indulge him, but her attention went to the vibration of the room and the loud crashes and bangs. The music suddenly stopped and the only thing they could hear was muffled yelling from downstairs.

"KIDS NEXT DOOR! Battle stations!"

Rachel wished she was fully sober and alert. "What… what was that?"

"STAY HERE!" Chad demanded, before jumping off from Cavallero's bed to rush to the situation at hand. She freaked out only because she had never seen him so tense before. "I'm not joking around right now, Rachel. Stay. Here. I'll come back for you."

:

:

There was a standstill between the members of Sector W and half the guests in attendance by the time the leader of the ninjas made his way down the stairs. Activating his own armor, he was immediately encased, ready to fire his gauntlets.

"Hey, KNDorks! Don't you know you have at least five more years before you get invited to a high school party? If you're lucky enough to see the day, that is!"

Numbuh 83 held up a shiny, updated, and modified G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. toward the boy in the air. "We're not here to fight, promise! You shouldn't have yelled, Lee!"

"We're here to escort someone home," Numbuh 84 announced sternly. His yoyos were ready for use, once a teenage scumbag attacked first. "Back away and lower your weapons!"

Numbuh 85 and Numbuh 87 steadied their S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R.s. The younger of the siblings is the first to speak and try to appeal to the older crowd. "We're looking for our sister, alright? Our dad is gonna kill us if she doesn't come home with us within the next twenty minutes!"

Chad, unamused, glared at the four who had their backs to each other. "Get out of here, you dumb kids! If you know what's good for you, you'll do what I say!"

He aimed and charged his gauntlets, awaiting a violet and blue gleam, but halted at the sound of a screech.

"PADDY? SHAUNIE?"

He really should have known. They were Red's kid brothers. Fanny continued to yell at the top of her lungs.

"THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING! Ye and yer dumb friends and yer dumb toys are gonna be the reason I won't be invited to any more parties! GET OUT OF HERE YE STUPID BOYS! YE TOO, SONIA, BEFORE I TURN THE LIGHTS OUT IN HERE."

"But dad really wants you home right now, sis!" Paddy said in defense, lowering his weapon. "We swear! It's not our fault! We didn't wanna come here!"

Shaunie nodded in agreement. "He said he would've done it himself, but you know he hates teenagers as much as he hates kids."

"UGH! FINE! Tell him I'm coming! I'm not walking with ye idiots though. Just leave!" Fanny growled. The anger dissipated to transform into pure shame. She giggled nervously at her peers. "Sorry everyone! Please carry on."

It didn't really look like the party could continue, however. With soured moods at 1 am, people grumbled and started to leave. The party was officially crashed.

Chad rolled his eyes. What a waste of time and energy. Landing his feet down on the floor of the dining room, his eyes find Maurice aloof, not even trying to defend the party.

"Wha– what just happened here?" He heard Rachel's small voice ask behind him. "And what are you wearing? You didn't tell me you cosplayed too?"

This was ridiculous.

"I thought I told you to stay upstairs!"

Rachel was so damn _stubborn_. He was beginning to realize this was a pain in the ass thing about her.

"I heard Fanny screaming! Of course I had to come downstairs, you idiot!"

He cursed under his breath. "I'm taking you home now. If you want me to explain, I will."

As they left with the huge crowd, Cavallero sobbed hysterically about the hole on his roof.


	5. Five: Façade

CHAPTER 5: FAÇADE

She squeaked when he unexpectedly took her in his arms bridal-style. They were in the air and on her balcony within a blink of an eye.

"Shh," Chad muttered, putting Rachel back on her feet as steadily as she could be. "You're going to wake your parents up."

"I didn't know you were an expert on the sleeping habits of George and Kathleen McKenzie," she snorted. The effects of being a lightweight had hit her all at once, but she still held some sense of self-control. "Three months of knowing you and _just_ when I thought I was starting to almost figure you out, you go and fly. You're full of surprises, Dickson."

"I don't actually fly," Chad mumbled, suited up again from her request to see his armor sans his helmet. He rolled his eyes at the fact that the Kids Next Door crashed a good time. The night just seemed to get longer at this point. He leaned on the iron railings and pointed down to his feet. "The shoes have a function for that."

Rachel eyed him from head to toe for a quiet minute, and all she did was raise an eyebrow. "This is the huge secret you've been hellbent on hiding? Does it have something to do with those kids?"

"Yes," he sighed, following cue on where to start. "Kids these days are out of control, Rachel. A lot of us from McClintock sort of act as law enforcement against them. Did you see the damage they did to Justin's roof? He'll be grounded until he can pay that off. Do you kinda understand better now?"

She nodded without a sound, letting him continue.

"You've never had to witness anything like this because, well, private school kids are probably a different breed," Chad teased to lighten up the seriousness and get a reaction from her that wasn't so flat. He hoped and prayed for the best case scenario, in which she wouldn't freak out.

"Oh, shut up," Rachel said, giving him an amused expression.

 _Thank God_.

She poked the chest plate of his armor. "Us? A different breed? Coming from the guy who's telling me he's part of a teenage army who polices misbehaved kids…" She burped lightly. "… _and_ is dressed up like a cosplayer. Well _excuse me_ for thinking you were a secret nerd. I'm kind of buzzed right now and I'm not sure I'll believe this in the morning."

He chuckled at her comment and allowed her to continue tracing the outline of her suit. "I didn't want to tell you everything tonight. I didn't want to scare you off. Are you?"

When she thought about it, just a little bit, kids _were_ annoying. Personally, she'd never heard of it ever getting out of hand. Her parents needed to hold an information session on how to parent and discipline, but she didn't wish her situation on other teenagers. Her thoughts trailed off to Harvey, but there was no way he would be involved in any of that. His hijinks were all under his volition, not because of some delinquent group of kids.

Chad continued to watch her, and here she finally realized why her friends thought he was so _bad_ (in a good way). Rachel found herself more enticed by him as the seconds passed.

She couldn't find herself to care that he shouldn't be there at that moment standing with her on her balcony. She also didn't care that what she wanted to do next would definitely get her into a troublesome dispute with her parents if they found out. And lastly, she no longer cared about words Maurice spat on about her.

They would be untrue. She would make sure of it.

"You don't have to worry," she purred, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand. "I think one thing you haven't learned about me is that I don't scare easily."

"I'll remember that for future reference." Chad's hands found their way to her narrow waist. "Look, I know I didn't tell you exactly what you signed up for when you agreed to go out with me, but it's still early for you to back out. I promise you though, that I wouldn't force our business on you."

Rachel's lips formed a mischievous upward curve, giving no indication that her own hands would be off him anytime soon, by the way her arms wound themselves around his neck.

They weren't kidding, whoever it was that said alcohol was liquid courage.

"I'm all in. You negotiated with me earlier, didn't you? Don't you know it looks bad when someone backs out of a proposition they made?"

"I learn something new every day," he joked, recognizing the look that she gave him. Her eyes were taken by a look he was very familiar with. He ended many dates mirroring that expression. Unarming himself under her embrace, he gave her a kiss meant for goodnight and goodbye.

It lasted _way_ longer than intended. It was not as innocent as intended.

Finally, Rachel took control of the playing field.

When she broke apart for air, she trailed her lips along his jawline and to his neck. Even with the autumn weather and his jacket on her shoulders, Chad felt his body temperature and heart rate rise.

He couldn't think straight.

 _Damn it_.

She was making it really difficult for him to leave.

"McKenzie. Be careful with what you're doing. I have some really questionable thoughts in my head right now that you could hate me for."

On the contrary, she didn't want him to go yet. She wanted to explore the possibilities of their current position after thinking about it for weeks.

To make it even more simple, Rachel _wanted_ him.

She shook her head and motioned for her door. "Come in for a bit. Just be quiet."

Chad was just as eager, but he imagined this in different circumstances – something more special.

"I don't know. You should go rest."

"I'm not tired. Show me if your thoughts are as questionable as mine," Rachel said, her voice now a sultry song to his ears.

Something in him started to work in overdrive as soon as she declared that.

"I have to make sure that you're sure, or I'm gonna end up doing something I regret."

Rachel whispered a few things in his ear, a mixture of words that he didn't know she was capable of.

He didn't believe in the supernatural, but it was like magic the way she got him to follow her inside her room.

:

:

By the time the weekend ended, she returned to the perfect schoolgirl façade her parents had raised and nurtured her to be for the past sixteen years: professional, disciplined, and oriented. Typical Rachel McKenzie, her classmates would say. When she really thought about it, it wasn't much of a façade. She was simply just another person when she was with her friends and when she was with him.

Everyone had different sides to them, right?

After her classes had finished for the day, she changed out of her uniform to attend her volunteer service at the children's hospital fifteen minutes away from school. It was something she kept and maintained for two years. Rachel often thought about the time _she_ was a patient at this very same facility, encouraged by the volunteers a few years back to participate when she became well.

"Well look who it is," a familiar raspy voice greeted her as she entered the colorful pediatrics floor. "The ghost of Rachel McKenzie. Welcome back, baby."

Rachel smiled at the girl with the red hat and tinted sunglasses, sitting and waiting for her assignment. She opened a lollipop meant for one of the patients and put it in her mouth.

"Why hello to you too, Abigail. Long time no see."

Abigail Lincoln was a friend Rachel made during her first year of volunteering. Though they were never particularly close, she'd like to think that they kept each other in good company when they saw each other. Abigail was the perfect volunteer; she was kind to the kids on the unit _and_ she aspired to be a doctor like her father. Her dad was an awesome neurologist; Rachel knew that personally.

She actually began to question why they weren't better friends, having known each other for quite a while.

"I haven't seen you since early in the summer," the darker skinned girl said, counting the months of the blonde's absence on her fingers. "The kids and I missed ya, Rach. You go on vacation or somethin'? You look like you got a nice glow."

Rachel felt a small blush creep on her face. She bashfully and nervously released a small, breathy laugh. "Hehe, no. Unfortunately, my dad was too busy with certain cases and some clients, so no vacations this summer. More of a staycation, really."

"Ah. Whatcha end up doing?"

"Just started living life, I guess. Took a break from here to spend some time with friends I thought I wouldn't see as often when school started."

"Like Fanny? Virginia? The boyfriend?" Abigail's tone was half-teasing, half-serious.

She couldn't tell which trait was more dominant. She also even almost forgot that the girl in front of her was a student at McClintock, a school that probably had gossip flow through the grapevine on an up-to-date basis.

"I'm guessing you've heard that I'm dating your school's quarterback?"

"Mhm. I also heard you went to Justin Cavallero's party Friday night," she mentioned before pausing. "Heard from a friend of mine. Maurice? I think you've met him."

"Oh," Rachel murmured in small surprise. She was instantly reminded of how their encounter went. "Maurice… you know him too."

Chad mentioned something about Maurice's uncanny ability to be friends with everyone. He was apparently generally likable, and he saw the best in people. She just couldn't see it!

"It doesn't sound like you guys got on so good, from the look of your face right now. Something go on?"

At first, she really can't believe she was engaging in gossip at volunteer service. The procedure was usually to get in, get out. But if there was a chance that Rachel could get information on some of the secrets of their school and why Maurice disliked her so much, she would go for it.

"Yeah, he doesn't like me that much. He's not a fan of the fact that Chad and I are seeing each other." She looked down at her hands on her lap and pursed her lips. "He wasn't very friendly."

"Don't take it personal, girl. If anything, Maurice is trying to protect you."

:

:

 **Three Years Ago**

" _Please do me this favor, Numbuh 5," Numbuh 362 begged with her hands folded. Sitting at the round table in what is left of Sector V's treehouse, she had one last request._

" _Numbuh 5 don't think that's such a good idea, sir," Abby replied, knowing that she would receive this plea once again._

 _This wasn't the first time she had been approached with the same request; it had actually been ongoing for a couple of months. It started with playful hints to actual inquiries, which all led to their current positions there now. Abby had a few hours to make a decision before the next game of_ tag _would commence._

 _She rested her legs on top of the table, placing her hands behind her head. "Me being a Supreme Leader? Nah. I just don't see it."_

 _Rachel looked thoughtful as she scanned through the dull silence of the environment. Without Abby's prior sector leader, it didn't look as lively as it once did. She learned to stop asking about Nigel's whereabouts, even though she authorized for the treehouse to still be attached to his residence. It was a point of historical interest for the Kids Next Door._

" _But why? You're an amazing leader. I don't know who I would trust more, if not you. I'd be really terrified to find out tomorrow that Numbuh 13 is the new Supreme Commander. I think it's time for you to move on to somewhere new, like you're the others from your sector. That's why I'm offering you this opportunity to use your greatness elsewhere."_

 _Abby hummed in contemplation._

:

:

 **Present Day**

Being Rachel's successor and looking after her during volunteer service was Abby's means of coping with the guilt of what had happened that day.

She watched the blonde shuffle in her duties of giving juice and snacks to the children on the unit, as she completed her own tasks in finishing the game of checkers she played with one of her charges.

Abby hoped and prayed that Chad didn't have a hand in corrupting Rachel with whatever he told her about the Teen Ninjas or Father. She also already knew that Numbuh 9 felt like an idiot for what had happened at the party; she brought it upon herself to find out what her former Supreme Leader knew.

All three of them had their roles pertaining to _that_ incident.

Luckily for Abby, the volunteer coordinator gave them their assignments just when Rachel was about to ask what she meant by _protect_. It may not stop her from inquiring about it at the end of the shift, however. She wouldn't mind answering Rachel's questions as vaguely, but as effectively as possible, without actually offending her.

She really did need protecting, Numbuh Zero help her.

Sometimes Abby wondered what would come to be if one day her predecessors just _remembered_. It might not be so bad, if it was possible. But Chad would be…

"Abigail," Rachel's voice dripped earnestly in the locker room. "Are you free to get some frozen yogurt and talk?"

The girl fixed her braid and smiled. "Sure, Rach. Your treat though."

Rachel took the opportunity to ask Abby what she had accomplished over the summer during their walk across the street, as a means to transition over to more controversial topics. Abby told her of the foodie adventures she and her boyfriend Hoagie embarked on, to find the best chocolate anything. That was nice.

There was a comfortable quietness between them in the froyo shop, nonetheless, but was masked by the bubbly pop music playing in the background. It matched with the pink and purple surroundings.

"So you probably already know, I've been meaning to ask about what you said today," she began, taking half a spoonful of her yogurt and sprinkles. "Maurice is protecting me?"

"Well, you know how it is, girl. Chad's kind of a player, football player and all. Maurice is used to doing damage control after sloppy breakups and that jazz," Abby said, adjusting her sunglasses. Rachel seldom actually saw her without them, but she mentioned they were a memento from an old friend.

With that response, it received a scowl in return. "You and Maurice are close?"

"Yeah. Known him since we were kids. He lives down my block. Then he dated my older sister for a while, but that information don't got nothing to do with anything, heh," Abby replied. "What happened between you guys on Friday? Why do you think he dislikes you?"

"I don't even know what to say. I kind of blocked that memory out of my mind. He called me a prudish virgin and told Chad he was wasting his time. Something about how I'm not good enough. I don't know. From Chad's stories, he seemed like a completely different guy I could have gotten along with." She shrugged her shoulders.

Abby already knew this and how messy it had gotten. "Like I said, I know Maurice. He's just trying to protect you from the walking pile of problems that is Chad Dickson. He ain't cold for no reason."

Rachel didn't want to hear bad things about Chad; whatever had happened before her was irrelevant. She stood by the opinions she already had of him.

"Can I trust you to be honest with me? I know we're not exactly the best of friends, but I'm just curious about how certain things go, and it seems like you're the best person to talk to about these topics, considering you're close to Maurice, who's close to Chad."

"Whatcha wanna know?"

"Would you say… a lot of weird things happen at your school?"

 _There it was._

Abby decided to humor her a little first. She relaxed and rested her back on her seat, savoring her mango boba.

"Depends on what you mean, baby. Last week, I saw this kid Herbie wear his underwear over his pants and–"

"No, no," Rachel interrupted, a funny little grin on her face. "Like, weird things involving your classmates dressed up like they're going to fight some elementary and middle school students?"

Abby took the opportunity to try and discourage her from getting involved any deeper. "Yes, but I don't recommend investigating, Rach. I don't personally mess with that side of the school because a lot of them _do_ get in trouble."

It's an answer Rachel half-expected. "It's the parties, right? Chad _did_ mention they're like law enforcement for crazy out of control kids, so–"

"Wait," she stops her from continuing. Abby raised an eyebrow. "That's what he told you?"

"Is that not correct?"

So this is what Rachel had been told. It was so far from the truth, that it was laughable. Numbuh 274's spirit was rolling around somewhere. She shook her head. "Just be careful who you hang out with, girl. You're in a good place in your life; I'd hate to see you get mixed up with the wrong crowd."

And then Abby's phone dinged with a special ringtone: a _TND_ alert. She paid attention to the notification. "Hey, I gotta go now. But we should do this again. I'll try to find out more for you if you want. Text me, actually."

"Okay. Thanks for answering my really bizarre questions."

:

:

When she returned home, Rachel acknowledged that her small friend date did not yield the results and answers she really wanted. She summarized what she learned today in her head.

One, apparently Maurice wasn't a jerk on purpose. She would just have to assess the situation and see what he would be like if she had to cross paths with him again. Hopefully, not soon.

Two, Chad and his other friends might be more trouble than she initially thought, but that didn't even change the fact that she cared about him. She needed to see things for herself.

And three, Abigail had a façade on her own. There was definitely a double meaning in her words.

" _Just be careful who you hang out with, girl. You're in a good place in your life; I'd hate to see you get mixed up with the wrong crowd."_

She thought back to Maurice's words from Friday night.

" _She's a plain Jane, private school goody two shoes. Rachel has nothing to offer you."_

Rachel rolled her eyes and grumbled into her pillow. She was really sick of people thinking she didn't know any better. Regardless of her background, she could handle whatever it was a couple of teenagers could throw at her. She would show them somehow, that they were wrong.


	6. Six: Adrenaline

CHAPTER 6: ADRENALINE

She attempted to maintain a serious expression as she sat on his bedroom floor with one ankle over the other, an open notebook with various beginner phrases in the space between them. She had an objective of teaching this fool _something_ , but a good and long hour had passed in trying to modify his foreign accent. She had seen the academic accolades (the amount almost rivaled hers) amongst the sports trophies in his living room, so he _should_ be capable of following her instruction.

"Okay, again. Repeat after me. _Bonjour. Je m'apelle Chad Dickson._ "

"Bonjour. Je m'apelle Chad Dickson," he said, albeit pathetically.

Maybe language wasn't for everyone.

She wasn't sure whether or not he was messing with her. Listening to him speak at this moment was like listening to a drunk Fanny attempt to speak in her 'American' accent. Unnatural would be the best word to describe that occurrence, but at least it was entertaining. This, on the other hand, was painful.

"Your accent is hopeless," she replied dryly, urging him to try again with a different phrase from the notebook.

His face read with a mixture of both slyness and endearment, and from that, it was clear as day he didn't actually intend to learn a new language. Her own expression was about to break from its humorlessness. She knew he was trying to stir a different kind of reaction from her.

Rachel felt his eyes linger on her without interruption. It was as if he'd never seen anyone in a school uniform before. Her navy blue tie hung loosely around her neck and the top three buttons of her blouse were undone.

"I'm in tutor mode. Quit looking at me like that."

Chad smirked. Moving the notebook dividing them onto his nightstand, he scooted to his right and entered her personal space.

"I can't help it. I haven't seen you in a week. You're in a skirt _and_ playing teacher? Kinda killing me here."

 _Oh, teenage boys._

As pleased as she was by the kind of attention he was giving her, she put up a very obviously fake stern front and peered down at her dark plaid skirt. "I find it sad how, as your tutor, I can't feel comfortable in my clothes because you're preoccupied with my _knees_. I'll make sure to come in a burlap sack next time."

"Ah, but at least you admit you're willing to come back. Trust me, I'm a lost cause. I need all the help I can get."

His smirk was unyielding, and his hand found its way on her bare left knee. She slapped it away, causing him to withdraw and frown.

"Hey! I'm here for the sole purpose in getting the volunteer hours you said you'd sign me off on. I'm _determined_ that you get something in return for my services." Rachel snickered in her head at the absurdity of the situation.

Chad didn't even take French at his school, but it was a good and valid Thursday alibi for her parents. It was getting harder sneaking around with the workload of the advancing academic year.

"My fault for being distracted." He pulled her over, allowing her to straddle him. Placing her hands on his chest without reluctance, he began to undo a few more buttons on her blouse. "I assure you I _am_ getting something in return. With that being said, I can show you something else that's French I know I'm quite knowledgeable in."

"If you start quoting _Lady Marmalade_ , I really am leaving and never coming back," Rachel quipped and softly laughed, as she felt his warm breath on her skin, followed by his lips.

The fluttery kisses made her stomach perform flip flops that she welcomed eagerly, and she let out a pleasured gasp. She felt the self-control gradually leave her body.

"Hmm, wait. Let me try something, so you don't think today was a total loss. Je suis désolé, mademoiselle. Je promets que je ferai mieux mieux la prochaine fois (1)," he managed to murmur fluently, as his fingers trailed up her outer thighs and he continued to place more kisses on the side of her throat.

She halted the contact between his mouth and her neck. She wasn't surprised. "You jerk. You lured me here and played stupid."

"I promise it's the only thing I know how to say. Also, you're adorable when you're frustrated," he retorted.

"Do you try to piss your teachers off like this too, you smartass?" she laughed.

Chad pretended to look thoughtful, but he shook his head. "Only the hot ones sitting on my lap."

"Where'd you learn to say _that_ then?"

"I dated this exchange student last year–"

Rachel's playful glare turned into one laced with warning.

He chuckled when he realized it was a joke in bad taste, with her on top of him and all. He attempted to fix it before he was better off chasing her away with the lyrics of the song from _Moulin Rouge_.

"I'm kidding. Did you know Luigi is actually French? Funny really. French guy with an Italian name who owns an Italian restaurant."

"Shut up and finish what you started, you dope," she commanded, surprised that she could be so assertive in this way. With her fingers entangling in the softness of his hair, she didn't fail to take notice of the bounding heartbeat in her chest in anticipation of what was to come next.

"Oui."

Her newfound confidence excited him, giving him no qualms in following her order. The advancements in their relationship also made Chad quite happy; barriers had been shattered and there were no secrets between them. The new Rachel McKenzie brought things to the table that he hadn't known of her in their first few months together: the wild look in her eyes, the heat of her touch, and the way she hungrily kissed him when she wanted him.

Maybe she was wrong in calling him troublesome that first night and on even more occasions, because right now, trouble looked like untamed perfection mounted on his lap.

She tasted like cherries.

The lip lock was passionate enough that they could feel the moment in their bones. Without breaking contact, he lifted both of them off the floor and on to his bed. With such a long week regarding college applications and orders from his boss, this was warranted.

 _Buzz. Ring. Buzz. Ring._

"Mm," she broke off their kiss. "You wanna get that?"

"No, it's probably about something really stupid," he said in between breaths, in continuation of that something French he promised her.

He would be damned if he let Cavallero interrupt this moment just because the slushie machines at the hideout were busted. Or if Father sent him on another rice pudding run for Grandfather.

 _Screw that._

 _Buzz. Ring. Buzz. Ring._

They ignored the second series of alerts when she flipped them over to regain control. Her nails lightly grazed the skin under his shirt. He could've been a goner…

 _Buzz. Ring. Buzz. Ring._

"Shit," Chad cursed. He was irritated. He stared at the flustered and flushed girl, who reluctantly crawled off and allowed him to move to tend to the call.

"You could not have called at a worse time," he answered angrily, his cellphone gripped tightly in his hand. "What in the damn hell is so important that you have to keep calling, Justin?"

"Dude–"

Rachel watched Chad become even more frustrated and annoyed as Justin explained something in frantic speed that she could not comprehend if she had even tried. It probably had something to do with those undisciplined kids, right? Her curiosity grew, as it had continued to since her froyo date with Abigail.

He frustratingly hung up the phone and looked at her with his very blue and _even more_ disappointed eyes.

"Have to cut the study date short today. There's an emergency going on that the _other_ guy I work for deems important at school. I'll drive you home quickly first though."

It didn't take long for Rachel to contemplate her question.

"Is it cool if I come with? You said you'd tell me everything when the time came, but maybe it's better if I saw what you do up close? I'll watch from your car."

Chad motioned to her fully unfastened shirt, once again sporting a smirk. "It would be my pleasure to take you a field trip of sorts, but you have to cover up all of that. Not letting any of those losers get a peek at my schoolgirl fantasy. Absolutely not."

"I think that goes without saying, but thanks for the advice," she murmured as she started making herself look decent once again, her cheeks redder than a flame.

:

:

His blue SUV was officially parked on the seemingly quiet outer bounds of McClintock High School's parking lot.

There was no doubt in her mind that she would feel out of place if she exited Chad's car dressed in her uniform, more covered up than usual, thanks to his grey hoodie. The oversized fabric almost reached the length of her skirt, four inches above her knee.

Rachel inhaled, quite a bit apprehensive, in the shotgun passenger seat.

Chad looked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her thigh. "Hey. You don't have to be nervous," he reassured. "This one is gonna be a quickie. Best case scenario, all you have to do is sit here and wait for me to get back in."

"And the worst case scenario?" she inquired half-joking, half serious. She crossed her arms in their baggy sleeved glory.

He looked thoughtful, sensing the vibration of the KND operatives about to emerge from the building. He disliked having to ask her of this. It wouldn't have been like this if he still talked to their usual getaway driver…

"You might have to be my getaway driver. But driving lessons have been going great, so it's fine. I have faith in your abilities if it had to boil down to that."

"WHAT?!" Rachel looked incredulous. "You only taught me not to floor the accelerator and how to make right turns."

"You might have to floor it and make _left_ turns."

How could he even make comments like that at a time like this?

With those words, the same group of kids Rachel recognized as Fanny's younger brothers (seriously, where were Mr. and Mrs. Fulbright?), their friends, and Chad's classmates, burst out of the double doors of the school. The young blonde and only girl of that group of kids held a white box protectively in her arms.

"They're here. And I have to get that box back from them," Chad explained. "Just wait for me and Justin here in the driver's seat."

"Okay." She realized there was no time for nervousness in this situation. She moved over to the left seat and watched him open his door to leave.

Watching Chad activate his armor and take off, she pondered on the white box he and the others are hellbent on taking back. She also thought about the words _law enforcement_ and _out of control_. This was out of her world.

Rachel knew for a fact Abigail implied something deeper than what Chad described to her during their conversation. From her current point of view, however, it almost seemed like both sides, teens and kids, were fighting for _something_. It wasn't a fight of blind delinquency. She acknowledged not understanding an ounce of what they're were yelling about from the open car window, but she knew this definitely was not an issue in relation to being out of control.

 _What on earth was a recommissioning module_?

She buried the question, because it had nothing to do with her.

In the end, there was one side, another side, and the truth.

Her belief in Chad led her to see things from his perspective.

Currently, from her perspective… the events she witnessed unfold were terrifying.

Smoke was forming from the use of lasers, canons, and the much-needed backup from their football team, but ultimately, Chad and Justin emerged from the dust with that box.

By the time they made it back to her, she was quick to make work and floor the damn gas pedal.

Tunnel vision and a bunch of garbled directions from Justin overtook her senses.

No words could describe the adrenaline rush through her veins. She didn't think anything could ever compare to this. Rachel couldn't recall a memory ever bringing her heart this much nervousness and excitement at the same time.

She absolutely loved it.

It was like flying. Was… the car actually flying? She couldn't tell.

If this was what driving at 120 mph could do, what else could she do to emulate the rush?

:

:

Rachel eventually came down from her high and approached a base of sorts, scratching her head and looking over to Chad. "Uh? This is an 8-Twelve."

"I know. Just sit with us on the curb a bit," he whispered, box under his right arm tucked away like a football.

She followed suit.

Whiplash was what she received in return, before she the ideal setting of the quintessential teenager graced her view. Huge stereos with screens to match, a place to skateboard, a corner for refreshments, a bunch of people her age just… hanging and chilling out? Rachel didn't have it in her to be overwhelmed, still wondering if she could wake up from the bizarreness of the day's events.

"DUDES AND GIRL DUDES! MISSION TODAY WENT OFF WITHOUT A HITCH. IT WAS AWESOME," Cavallero cheered to those present in the hideout. "All thanks to Chad's very cool girlfriend."

Justin gave her a high five before walking off to mingle with a cheerleader standing by.

The blond boy standing next to her gave her an awkward smile. She could feel his discontent.

"What?"

"I… just kind of feel like an asshole from dropping that getaway driver thing on you last minute. I should've just driven you home. I didn't realize we parked to close to where those kids were gonna come out."

Rachel shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'll admit I was terrified. I didn't even have time to be angry with you. In the end… I felt great. I'd never done anything like that before. I'd also actually think I'm going to pass my road test now, thanks to you," she added a joke, in an attempt to lift his mood.

Chad took her hand in his and he gave her a more genuine smile, but not one of those beaming ones she loved. "Calm down, tiger. You haven't even learned how to parallel park yet."

"What is really bothering you?" she asked.

He shook his head out of denial, unable to shake off a figurative tightness in his gut. "Nothing. I'm just glad you're okay."

"I think you're afraid Justin has a crush on me and is going to sweep me off my feet with the praise he's spreading over there through word of mouth," Rachel teased. She received a wave from the pale boy.

"Don't joke like that," Chad said unamused. He didn't like the attention she was getting from the different cliques. Good thing she was covered up.

In his scan of the hideout, a face he has not spoken to in weeks was absent. He made a mental note to text Maurice after dropping Rachel off home.

The small package would stay safe with him, until his next meeting with Father.

:

:

Rachel closed the front door as lightly as could, hoping not to alert her parents and disturb them from their dinner. According to the watch in her wrist, she technically still had an hour until curfew. It wasn't like she was partying. _This_ time, anyways. Speaking to her parents after doing something she technically had no business doing never stopped her from feeling the small itch of discomfort.

"MOM! DAD! Rachel is home," Harvey bellowed from the living room, about to run up the stairs to his room.

"What the heck, Harvey?" She glared at his back and continued to whisper, "See if I'll cover for you next time you get caught TPing someone's house and the cops have to bring you home again!"

"Sorry, sis! They told me to keep an eye out for you. Sounded pretty serious."

Rachel rolled her eyes. Their agreement to look out for each other is shot to hell if they bribed him to be on the constant lookout.

He caught her going inside of a _stranger's_ car in the summer, and well, the toilet paper incident in July evened out their playing field.

 _Sellout!_

Their mother peeked her head from the dining room. Luckily for Harvey, she missed the warning intended for her son. "Come. Your father and I have been waiting for you. We want to talk."

Rachel felt a lump form in her throat. Did they know something? Had she been exposed? All she thought to do was _deny, deny, deny_ until they had solid evidence of anything.

George sat at the end of the table, looking at her with all the seriousness of the world – maybe even the universe.

She and her mother, Kathleen, both took seats on each of his sides.

"So what is so important that you both had Harvey on high alert for me?"

"We want to talk about responsibility," George began.

Rachel narrowed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows. This spiel? Again? She had hoped to just nap, after all the action and adrenaline the day had given her, and set an alarm up for three in the morning to her homework.

Kathleen noticed the look of perplexity her daughter wore. "When your father says responsible, he and I don't mean just being a good, well-behaved girl for us."

"I trust you are still following the rules of the house, doll," he said, looking her straight in the eyes. "Correct?"

She didn't look away. If she did, that made her a liar. "Of course. Is there any reason I have given you to doubt me?"

Her parents looked at each other and then back at her. There was an air of suspicion floating in the dining room. It instantly placed Rachel on an edge.

"Okay, with your silence, I take it that I have not, and everything is fine. This was just your monthly reminder to make sure I was on top of my duties." Rachel pushed her seat back in preparation to leave. They heard the screech of the chair's legs create friction against the wooden floor. "I am going to go upstairs and get a start on my homework."

"Rachel Theresa McKenzie. Sit. Down. This is important," Kathleen ordered firmly. "We are still going to talk about responsibility, in terms of being responsible with yourself."

 _Where was this conversation going?_

"I went to the grocery store today and saw your English teacher, Mrs. Finnerty. She said some interesting, yet questionable things about your performance in her class."

"Oh… ?"

George was the one to explain this time. "Apparently, you've been distracted lately. Handed three assignments in late within the last two weeks. We're trying to figure out why that is, doll. Don't feel threatened."

"If you need to talk about any concerns or anything that's been bothering you, we can arrange for you to talk to Dr. Sharp again," her mother suggested.

"No!" Rachel snapped. "I'm sorry, but no, not that quack again. I just need a little space is all. I'm a junior in high school now with quite a bit of extracurriculars. It's the busiest year of all the four because colleges look at what you've accomplished this particular year. I don't need my parents hovering over me because of three assignments. It won't happen again."

Both adults were taken aback by her biting tone, confused themselves on why and how their daughter's routine wasn't as efficient as it once was.

"You haven't shown us this side of you since before your accident. We're worried about you," Kathleen said. "Maybe you could cut down on the volunteer service for now and take a break. Focus on school and yourself."

"It's fine. I can handle it." Rachel recomposed herself, before saying one final thing to address the topic. "Just… don't call Dr. Sharp. Therapy did not and will not help. You both know I have holes in my memory. I can barely remember half of my life before I turned twelve. So please just cut me some slack. I'm absolutely exhausted."

Her father relented, giving her the benefit of the doubt. "Very well. Have some dinner and rest up."

The older McKenzie woman held her tongue and doesn't even comment on the button that was one place off on Rachel's blouse, hoping her perfect daughter would just be herself _soon_. If fatigue was the cause of her little rut, it would definitely resolve itself with proper rest.

Later in the night, Rachel woke up before she could give her cellphone the chance to activate the vibrating alarm under her pillow. She took a breath, a feeling of wellness overtaking her.

The lights in her bathroom didn't soothe the bounding ache, and neither did the cool water she used to splash on her face. It wasn't often she woke up with a killer migraine paired with unusual dreams.

" _RACHEL!_ " It was only her name, but it was her boyfriend's voice that reverberated, heavy with worry amongst other things. Sadness. Anger. Panic. Hysterics. Desperation. Distraught. The dream itself was not full of the best imagery, but a whole lot of dark blanks and blurs instead.

It wasn't something she decided to linger on for too long. Dream interpretation and all that mumbo jumbo wouldn't write a killer debate speech. She had five hours to compose an introduction, points for rebuttal, and a summation statement. Although, she also had her lunch period.

She needed ibuprofen, nonetheless.

And when the headache finally went away, a drink or two (or three) wouldn't hurt.

Therapy, she scoffed at the thought, could honestly kiss her ass.

:

:

When he pulled up on Maurice's driveway, he was already there sitting on the porch steps with a textbook next to his person, notebook and calculator on his lap, and pencil in hand. The light at the front exterior of the house illuminated their surroundings as the autumn weather made the sun set just a bit too early.

"Hey," Chad greeted neutrally.

"Hey."

A minute silence fell between the two boys, but there was no need to be verbal regarding the bad blood that had lifted. The time that had passed since Cavallero's semester start party had killed any hostility. Chad also decided to follow Rachel's advice and not hold a grudge. At the end of the day, Maurice had always been that to him – a good friend. There was no need to drag out the drama any longer.

"Cavallero didn't call you with that emergency today?"

Maurice turned his head up to him, closing the books and putting them away in his school bag. "He did. But we got that calculus test tomorrow, man. You know I'm no good with this shit."

"Ugh, I almost forgot. Hudson's a mean grader. Good luck on getting all those points. That no partial-credit thing pisses me off. I didn't deserve that B- last pop quiz."

He rolled his eyes and snorted. "Ah, shut it. I can't even get a B-. So uh. How's life? How's Rachel?"

Chad sat next down to him, placing his cold hands in his hoodie pocket. "Depends on how you look at my life. Are you gonna give me more vague reasons on why I shouldn't be going out with her? You sure you wanna know?"

"Of course I do. I felt like shit after the party, alright? I owe you and Rachel apologies. You know Cree's little sister? She told me they do volunteer work together at the children's hospital."

"Yeah, I know…" he paused to smirk, sidetracked by something else. "Wait. What are you doing talking to a sophomore? Not to mention, your ex's sister?"

Maurice rolled his eyes again and shook his head. "Get your mind out the gutter. Abby is like a sister to me and she has a boyfriend. You forget the Lincolns are family friends."

"Whatever you say."

"You're a smug bastard," Maurice snickered. "I hope you're not being too much of a bad influence on your girl."

"I'd like to think that I'm not, _but_ she did come to help out on the mission today. She actually took over your role. On her own, no influence whatsoever. Curiosity is gonna kill the cat one of these days."

Maurice exhaled lightly, unsure of how to reply to that statement without sounding judgmental, similar to the night of the party. This was _exactly_ what he was trying to prevent from the get-go. Numbuh 274 would deem him a failure for not going out of his way for sabotaging his relationship.

 _Damn it_.

Chad broke his train of thought. "Is it kind of weird I don't want her involved in any of this?" He was unsure whether he was asking himself or the boy next to him.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" he asked. Hope began to brew in him, hope that Rachel wouldn't be caught up in any of this. It would be extremely lucky, and he would lay this situation to rest.

"I mean, I wanted this in the beginning – for her to be part of the ninjas. But she's perfect. Kind of… don't want to mess that up. We were messing around in my car last week and–"

"Woah woah woah, I don't need to hear this! Too much information. Keep that shit to yourself, man," Maurice interrupted, about to place his pointer fingers in his ears.

 _Oh God_.

It was worse last year with some of the conquests Chad had, but he would be damned if he had to hear about Rachel too. He drew the line with her. No way in hell would he be here for that. Like Abby, Numbuh 362 had been like a sister to him, knowing her (and Chad) since his very own days in Sector V.

"Your turn to get _your_ mind out the gutter! I'm not going into detail about that. I'm talking about this surgical scar she has on the back of her neck," he explained. "She was involved in some sort of freak accident a couple of years ago. She doesn't even remember much about it. I just… don't want her to be in any position where she's hurt like that. Ever. You and me? We've been doing this for years, but she hasn't."

Maurice felt nostalgic as he looked up to the sky, a cloudless and clear view of the moon displayed. Moonbase was as clear to him as ever. There wasn't much that he could say without revealing the details of that day to Chad. He chuckled instead.

"Wow. Chad Dickson being overly concerned about his new lady love. Father is gonna hate that his number one recruiter isn't using his talents anymore, which I'm glad for. I don't need to do any more damage control with those crying freshmen."

"I don't give a crap about that, don't give a crap about what Father thinks either," Chad said with a small smile on his face. "Rachel… she's special. I honestly have no idea how I ended up with her."

Would it really be horrible for them to have each other in their own respective lives again? Chad was constantly distracted from doing any dirty work _properly_ as of current, and as long as he had doubts in allowing Rachel to be any part of the Teen Ninjas in relation to her safety, would she truly be in any danger? He would have to revise his prior plan for intervention, and so did Abby.

Nevertheless, with that admission and lingering indecision, Maurice's promise to an old friend in keeping the two apart was officially broken.

A text alert took him away from his thoughts.

' _Chad has the broken recommissioning module. Most likely delivering to Father tomorrow afternoon_.'

:

:

(1) The phrase means: I promise I'll do better next time.


	7. Seven: What Might Have Been

CHAPTER 7: WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

 **Three Years Ago**

 _The last few weeks were grueling._

 _Abby almost felt forced to have taken the Supreme Leader role, even after her promise to Rachel. Her office on Moonbase, cleansed of any evidence of her predecessor's presence, was officially her new home._

 _The stress was topped with the guilt of the possibility of having to decommission Numbuh 363. He already achieved his first warning, and yet, he was_ still _attacking random innocent teenagers for his sister's accident. She understood the anger and depression; she really did. But she could no longer tolerate him putting Sector W in any more petty danger._

 _She prayed in her mind that Rachel would forgive her for anything she would disapprove of._

 _Even with all the damage control Abby had to oversee, she knew she wasn't alone._

 _The boy in the shadows emerged to salute her. "Sir."_

" _You don't gotta be so formal around Numbuh 5, Maurice," she said, spinning around slowly in her chair and releasing an exhale. Her voice was absent of her usual wit, replaced by somberness. "We've known each other for years. Cree may have taught me to fight, but you taught me everything else: from morals to copping free cheese fries from the caf."_

" _I know," he replied, giving her a weak smile. "Just calling you that to make sure you're used to your new position… otherwise, I'm here to give you my new weekly report on Chad. And to check on you, of course. I'm always here for you; I hope you remember that. This whole situation has been draining on everyone."_

" _Numbuh 5 will be fine." She sighed before continuing. "What's his status?"_

" _I've taken him off most databases, save for some on Global Command," Maurice began. "He's really assimilating into Teen Ninja ideology. All the connections he's made in Father's circle? They really believe he's just been simply caught and decommissioned. They still think he's worth something."_

 _Abby looked pensive. "You know what to do then, right?"_

" _I know, I know." Maurice nodded. "I'll monitor his activity once he's really been inducted to the ninjas again. Make sure we're always one step ahead. I don't think he'll actually be bad as Cree, but I'll be prepared for it. And Rachel?"_

" _Pseudo-decommissioning," she said the words so bitterly, almost hateful. It had been on the tip of her tongue, waiting to be announced since he brought the whole situation up. Those recent events were all they ever spoke about these days. "That's what the KND doctors called it when Numbuh 363 got the brain scans for them."_

" _So in other words…"_

" _The parts of her brain that were hit and affected are what regular decommissioning usually takes memories from," Abby explained. "Pseudo because it was never an official decommissioning. Her memories could come back at any time."_

 _Maurice let out a breath and placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose._

 _What Numbuh 274 did could have gone in vain._

:

:

 **Present Day**

Without hesitation, Rachel kept her promise to her parents to be on top of school work and to seemingly be _honest_ if something bothered her. With this came extra smiles during breakfast and dinner just to keep them from being suspicious again. She pretended to be the loving sister as always as well. Even though Harvey deserved a million glares, she had a hunch he knew more than he led on.

 _Whatever_.

She had the insurance to protect herself from blackmail if it had to come down to it.

Back to post-summer holiday business (the nonroutine routine kind), as per usual.

Her nightlife was no one's business but those who were involved. Having a life outside of Vanderbilt and extracurriculars made her feel like she had an actual life that she valued and had control over, and definitely not something her parents would puppet around.

It made Rachel happy. Her friends made her happy, and Chad made her happy. She would hold on to this feeling for as long as she could help it.

There was more to life than being told what to do and why and how things worked, according to Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie.

After her small stint with Chad and Justin's supposedly suspicious squadron (she told Chad this was a way better name than Teen Ninjas) of friends, the occasional headaches and obscure dreams got more frequent. Maybe her body wasn't made for thrill seeking and these were some of the side effects. She would seek answers from a professional if her experience with her previous therapist wasn't so weird. Rachel had never heard of the "happy headband" and she didn't want to be a guinea pig for it either.

She continued to ignore the headaches. She had been through worse pain and didn't need those around her thinking she was mentally or physically sick.

"Earth to Rachel McKenzie," Virginia interrupted her thoughts, waving her hand in front of the blonde's face. "You hear me?"

The girl in question focused back on the group's topic. "Hmm? Yeah. Fanny's throwing her own party to make up for the one she crashed. I hear you."

Fanny growled under her breath. "I've told ye a hundred times! I didn't crash it! My dumb brothers and their friend did!"

They sat leisurely on the bleacher of McClintock High School's field, watching their beloved team practice for the homecoming game. With his football helmet dangling from his fingers, Chad playfully saluted to them in greeting and gave Rachel a wink, leading to her sticking her tongue out back at him quickly. The coach whistled, a sound that was masked by the cheerleaders preparing and rehearsing their new chants.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Patton snorted, facing his girlfriend. "Your dad already hates me, so you're gonna give your mom a reason to hate me too?" He looked at the other girls. "She thinks I can straighten her out and make her behave like her brothers. How am I going to make it up to her when I inevitably disappoint?"

"Oh, shut up. Ye aren't my keeper."

Rachel and Virginia laughed when Fanny jokingly scolded him. Unfortunately, to Mrs. Fulbright's discontent, Patton's military school discipline didn't rub off on her daughter and tame her.

In Rachel's first few encounters with the boy sitting two bleacher steps below her, she had known him to be a pretty quiet and serious person. She wondered why Fanny crushed on him so hard. Not that she cared much before, she just thought even a boy like him would be someone her father would approve of her dating… until he told her that _all_ boys had dishonorable intentions. She quickly removed the thought of dating Patton from her head when it first surfaced and laughed herself to sleep that night.

Patton Drilovsky was absolutely _off-limits_.

Now that they were established friends and actually hang out on the regular, however, she saw why Fanny kept him around as her "main squeeze." He was quite playful at the right times and actually very fun to talk to. It started when they found common ground on family members in the army, to obscure documentaries that played during the late hours of the night, and other things that Fanny didn't care much about. They even double teamed on teasing her sometimes.

To an extent, he _did_ keep the redhead grounded, and that's why Rachel never minded when she got those calls for comfort on their temporary breakups. Patton was a good guy.

"Geez. Be more like Rachel here. Do what your parents tell you, just a little bit," he quipped, holding his pointer finger up close to his thumb. It earned him a smack on the shoulder.

Virginia snickered. " _Actually_ , she's a changed person now. Dating the captain of the football team has that effect, don't you know? She even hangs with his crowd now."

Fanny nodded in agreement. She motioned between their blonde friend and the boy far on the field. "I know. Can ye believe _we_ made that happen? She doesn't even go to our school and she's basically on top of the social chain."

"Can we talk about something else?" Rachel pleaded, pouting. She should be used to being under the microscope concerning her change of lifestyle, but there was still that tinge of embarrassment. "You're making Patton feel uncomfortable with the girl talk."

"Oh, don't worry about me. The headphones are in," he deadpanned, shaking his head. He took a book out from his bag. "Just pretend I'm not here."

"But _seriously_ , how amazing is the transformation you've had?" Virginia questioned. "If this was last year, you would totally be blowing us off right now to study for the PSATs. It doesn't seem like a big deal right now, but it's all going to add up in the end."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I had a lot on my plate, alright? Though we have the SATs coming up… I just happened to be free today."

"Free today my arse. We've seen ye more times this semester than the whole entire year last year. _I_ still can't believe it wasn't us who made ye crack and get outside yer comfort zone. It had to be a boy. How disappointing. We've been begging ye to come and hang out outside yer mum and dad's schedule for years!" Fanny pretended to be offended, flicking her disinterested boyfriend in the ear. He ironically narrowed his eyes down at her before she leaned on him. "I guess we shoulda' expected it. It always the quiet girls that go buck wild. From 'ere on out, ye're just gon' get worse, lass. Especially now that ye've been getting it on with–"

"We are not talking about that here!"

"Don't be ashamed of it, Rachy," Virginia teased and wiggled her eyebrows. "It's human nature to give in to your carnal desires. Look at those cheerleaders over there lookin' at you. They would love to be in your place and be Chad's arm candy. They're especially jealous now that you've been accompanying him to his day job too."

Rachel gave both her friends a disingenuous cheeky smile. There was no getting away from gossip. "I'm going to change the topic now. But anyways, that happened once. Even though I still don't even really understand what their organization is all about, it was strangely really fun. It gave me a rush."

"We don't understand it either!" Fanny confessed, shrugging her shoulders. "My mum and dad always told me never to sign up for anything I didn't get. It's how ye owe money to solicitors and get junk in yer mail. We just show up to the parties."

There was a comfortable silence among the girls and Patton when the coach suddenly whistled again to make the boys run laps.

"Since you're not indulging the juicy details of your secret life right now, what's next? You've pretty much shattered your illusion of the perfect textbook high school overachiever. How should we test and celebrate your crossing over to the dark side?" The brunette smirked, egging her friend on.

Rachel shook her head, looking down at her skinny jeans. "I don't know… you seriously think now that I get out the house more often, it calls for a rite of passage? If you insist, we can do shots at Fanny's hypothetical party."

"How about ye come with us to Joe's Tattoo Parlor after this?" Fanny stood on her bleacher and lifted her green hoodie slightly to expose her abdomen and point at her bellybutton. Patton, with his headphones still on, was quick to pull it down for her. "Ginny and I are gettin' matchin' piercings. Ye in?"

"Correction: Vivien and Francesca are getting matching piercings," Virginia added. "Raquel is invited and should take her new ID out for a ride."

Patton, with his book still in his hand, shook his head silently wearing a smirk. He knew peer pressure when he saw it.

The blonde narrowed her eyes when she recalled that the fake ID wasn't her idea. The two girls bombarded her and took a picture of her one day; the rectangular piece of plastic made its way to her hands within the next few days. She didn't really think to throw it away knowing how useful it could be. Everyone had one, so why not?

But… getting a hole punctured through her body and/or a permanent and painful branding would be a big commitment for teenagers like them. Her parents would definitely send her to get some psychiatric intervention. She couldn't believe she was actually considering it, but then remembered there had to be a catch if that place was willing to mark and pierce obvious underage teenagers. A botched job or an infection would _so_ not be worth it.

"Hmm. Maybe next time. Raquel will probably buy a bottle of wine first."

Rachel may have been testing the limits of her freedom, but she wasn't stupid.

"Fine," Fanny said, frowning. "But I swear, I'll kill ye if ye get anything matchin' with Dickson. And Raquel better donate some beverage to my party that _will_ happen."

"Oh God. Did you seriously just warn me not to get a couple tattoo?" She huffed out of amusement.

"Some girls are into that shit," Virginia reminded her, lifting her sleeve to wave her wrist. A lock. The key belonged to her most recent ex.

Rachel looked sympathetic. "Shoot. Sorry, I totally forgot. Do you want to work things out with Bartie?"

She shrugged. "Today? No. But hey, tomorrow's a new day."

Teenagers sure loved to change their minds.

:

:

After she exited the bathroom, Rachel decided to take her time before walking back to her friends and peruse the hallways of the school.

The atmosphere was vastly different from Vanderbilt's for sure. While her school had a nice budget and everything was practically new, thanks to alumni donations, she preferred the colors and personality that McClintock High's spirit week had to offer. Some of their lockers were totally busted, but the signs and banners advertising different clubs totally took away from those negative aspects.

 _They have a club dedicated to Yipper? And Quidditch? Seriously? Lucky bunch._

The most adventurous and 'out there' club Vanderbilt had was dedicated to Rubik's cubes. And well… no thanks. Debate and student council have claimed her time eternally anyway, not that she was even too invested as of current. She had been leaving meetings early in preference of activities around a more stimulating group of people.

She imagined how lively and loud the currently quiet halls could get during the weekdays.

" _I'm going to ask my dad if I could transfer to the public school system for next year. It'd be easier for intel gathering and TND participation in general. I could probably tell my parents going to McClintock gives me more of a challenge. College applications like hearing about that._ "

" _You don't have to lie_ ," the boy in her imagination said. He flashed a roguish grin, the only characteristic she could envision in her mind. " _We both know you're not doing it just for the intel. You want to spend more time with me_."

She didn't take him seriously at all. " _Dream on_."

Huh? What a weird thing to daydream in front of the school's trophy case. Intel? TND?

And there, she felt it: the onset of a headache – the kind that followed after one of those weird daydreams. She placed her hand on the side of her forehead. She didn't want this following her to public places.

On top of it all, she felt someone's presence – someone watching her every move since she entered the building for a bathroom break. Who would give her such a creepy feeling in a school setting like this?

She looked around: to the left, right, and even behind her. There was no one but herself and her thoughts.

Rachel didn't have any type of painkiller on her. She sighed and focused on the picture of Chad and the football team, hoping it would distract her from the dull ache. How very Chad Dickson of him to look cocky in his pictures; it was a small contrast to the seemingly angelic pictures of him plastered all over his house. The football team probably had a lot of power around here. She wished she could say the same about her school's pathetic team.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and all of a sudden on reflex, she took the perpetrator's arm to give him the proper response for spying on her.

The offender flew over her shoulder roughly, thrown so roughly on the ground. It had been done in such a poised fashion, as if Rachel had known the practice like the back of her hand.

"Okay, what do you want and why have you been fol–"

 _Oh God._

It was Maurice – the same Maurice Chad told her a few days ago he made up with. His best friend. The first impression was bad, and now the second impression was even worse.

With his back against the floor, he held his hands up in defense.

"Wow, you got a mean flip," he joked. "Now I know not to mess with you ever again."

"Maurice. I'm so sorry," she apologized, frantically offering the boy a hand to help him up back on his feet.

He accepted with an upward curve of his lips. "My mistake for sneaking up on you. I didn't mean to creep you out. I come in peace."

Returning his smile upon meeting his gaze, Rachel recalled that her friends were still waiting for her. Then it came, the awkward tension as he studied her. "Heh, it's alright. Um… my friends are outside and I think Chad's practice is over soon. I'll see you around."

"Wait," Maurice urged. "I was actually hoping to bump into you one of these days."

She stopped in her tracks before turning her heel. "Hm?"

"But firstly… you looked like you were in some kind of pain there. Are you okay, Rachel?"

Rachel detested the fact that he saw that, deciding to downplay her moment of weakness. "Yeah, I get migraines sometimes. Not a big deal. They go away on their own after a bit."

"Okay. If you say so." Maurice nodded, not quite believing her, but giving her the benefit of the doubt to avoid further conflict.

"Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes. I wanted to apologize for what happened last month. It wasn't my place to tell Chad who he should and shouldn't date."

"So why did you?"

He sighed. "I guess you could say I look over him. Sometimes too much. It wasn't my intention to bad mouth you behind your back. The things I said were screwed up. I _know_ you're a good person, from what Abby has told me about you. She's a good judge of character. I just didn't want my boy falling in love and getting distracted his senior year. You know Chad is one of those 'get your head in the game' types."

"You're overdoing it, definitely," Rachel snorted lightheartedly. She looked at him, no longer with skepticism. "No one said anything about falling in love. We were just having fun and we are still having fun. Just with a more defined label. Exclusively. Basically, I like him a lot. I hope that feeling is mutual."

"Fair enough." He hid his smirk at her disbelief, once again throwing his hands up in defense. "But please tell me you forgive me for everything. Chad would never let me live it down if I didn't try to make things right with you. _I_ wouldn't let myself live it down either."

She searched his expression for genuine remorse, and found it in his eyes. After a few seconds, she reached her verdict.

"I'll forgive you on one condition."

"What's that?"

" _You_ forgive _me_ for flipping you over like an omelet. I'm embarrassed. I really don't know my own strength sometimes. My parents thought kickboxing was a waste of time, but obviously not!"

Maurice maintained a neutral expression in response to her words. Did instructors even teach advanced judo throwing an individual over the shoulder in kickboxing? Her form was too familiar, recognizing it as specialized mixed martial arts from the KND. It was uncommon for a regular person to be familiar with such a move, but prospective operatives learned it within their first-week training at the academy.

He finally smiled and offered his hand out. "Let's make our friendship official then. Chad and I have lunch plans today. I'd love it if you can come so I can get to see why he likes you so much."

Rachel almost beamed at his offer, and her headache went away at this gesture. She shook his hand. "Deal, on me. I'm paying away a potential lawsuit. Can't have you cashing out if I was the cause of a likely sustained injury."

"Hahaha. If you insist."

:

:

The sound of laughter filled one booth of the diner, while the subject of said laughter scowled in light angst.

"Yeah, haha, keep laughing," Chad muttered unamused.

Rachel mischievously smiled over her milkshake and peered over to him. "I'll stop laughing when Maurice tells me it's not true."

"Ah, but it is," Maurice confirmed, an eyebrow raised playfully at the two blonds sitting next to each other. "Homeboy was wearing a bra til' freshman year."

"I wanted you guys to be acquainted and be cool with each other and this is what I get?" he added, shaking his head in disapproval. He attempted to justify and preserve his pride.  
"It was basically uniform, okay? I was discontinued that year after most of the guys realized that _isn't_ what bras are for. Rest in peace in pieces, battle ready armor."

"So what did you do to up the cool factor then, boy scout?" Rachel continued to tease. She poked him on the side. This was one of the sides of Chad she really liked – the guy who wasn't always cool. The dork. She was a sucker for these stories.

"It didn't involve showing off his badges, I can tell you that," Maurice smirked.

Chad rolled his eyes, but he put his arm around the girl next to him to pull her closer. "You guys are relentless. I almost regret this, but I should've expected it too. I'm just glad everything is fine and there's no beef. It should've been like this from the getgo, you know… if Maurice wasn't being so emo."

"Not being emo at all, brother," he replied. "Just beginning to realize that Rachel is too cool and too good for you, now that I'm getting to know her. Now shut up. Go on, Rach. Tell me more about yourself."

She chuckled at their interaction. "Hah. Not much to say." She paused, playing with the straw wrapper in her hand. "My life is super mundane unlike both of yours. It would've been more so if I never met Fanny, and then Virginia through her. You know about the boring stuff, like my schooling and stuff. I'm just starting to get out the house more now. My friends applaud me for that; they applaud Chad for that too. It's embarrassing."

Chad wore a smug smile, which resulted in her nudging his knee with hers.

Maurice was more serious, sincerely interested and nodding at her words. "And your parents…"

"... are too involved with my life, in all aspects," she finished his sentence. "They like structure, and for the most part, I do too. I'm just trying to find loopholes around some of that. As far as they know, Fanny and Virginia are my only non-Vandy friends." Rachel laughed. "And they're absolute angels, apparently. Angels who are getting holes punched in their bodies at Joe's Tattoo Parlor at this moment."

"You're lucky to have me then," Chad said. "Else you would've been hanging out with your perma-squad, the _Delightfuls_."

Rachel turned from him to Maurice, curiosity sparking. "That's so funny. I had no idea they were known around your parts of town and that they were called _that_ , considering how many times they _have_ to say it in the day. So. Freaking. Weird. Anyways, let me tell you about my experience with them. I proposed for casual Fridays once a month for two dollars by each participant to fundraise. They almost bit my head off! I didn't like the idea of five versus one. I'm not much of a good leader so I keep mostly to myself."

That's right. The Delightful Teens went to school with Rachel. It was a shame they made her doubt her authority. As of now, Maurice could not find any evidence of Numbuh 362's memories in the current Rachel McKenzie. He was only surprised by their earlier encounter, because that was definitely muscle memory being utilized by her brain.

She smiled inelegantly through her teeth. "That got serious really fast. But what about you, Maurice? Back in the summer, Chad always had something to say about you. How did you guys create such an epic bromance?"

"It's a blur to me, personally," the latter recounted. He narrowed his eyes when he really could not find it in his mind to recall that moment.

"I remember that day perfectly." Maurice often told this story to the Teen Ninjas a few years ago, making sure they understood delicate protocol regarding Chad's decommissioning. "I found him at the park really out of it. Nothing a plate of nachos couldn't fix."

Chad shrugged his shoulders, but Rachel teased a little bit more. "Out of it, huh? It's either a party or something with those kids didn't go right. And the _park_? That's his favorite place to make connections."

"Oh, hush. And don't be jealous. I barely remember it and it didn't mean anything!" he retorted.

"You're so annoying," she whispered and quietly laughed.

Rachel's phone, laid on the table next to the napkin dispenser, lit up with a notification: a picture message of twin navels.

"That important, Rach?" Maurice asked.

"Definitely not. Just my friends partaking in illegal activities and wanting me to join in. Chad's just as bad, so I can't even say anything."

"What?" He pretended to be shocked. "How?"

She raised her eyebrow. "King of headaches and of being high maintenance! You threatened your parents with getting your own tattoo because they embarrassed you, and you were twelve. Trouble, am I right?"

Maurice stayed quiet, but smirked to himself. That was definitely a throwback moment. He wished he was there for that meltdown, but he was stupefied in Louisiana.

"I don't remember ever telling you… that?" Chad gave her a suspicious look.

She shrugged it off. "Pretty sure you were buzzed when you told me. I think it was that night you told me you wholeheartedly trusted me to drive from that cheerleader's get together."

He was still unsure, deciding not to dwell so much on it, unlike the boy across them.

It was slip-ups like these that Maurice was looking for. It may have seemed minor now, and who knows? This could be a lead; it could even be considered hope. Rachel's migraine was another questionable subject, in addition to her budding muscle memory.

The lunch still went on more with more hoots of laughter and unsuspicious story sharing – much like old chums acting reminiscent, and maybe even nostalgic. By the end of the occasion, it definitely felt like a casual hobnob with his previous superiors, wisecracks included.

As Maurice drove away, he watched his best friend give the unknowing girl a gentle peck against his car through his side mirror. Subsequently, he found himself doing something he never allowed himself to do.

He dwelled. Is this what might have been without the accident?

:

:

Father rested the box carefully on his desk.

He was careful not to damage the contents of it any further. Regardless of its broken nature, he was still excited to open the lid.

There they were: fragments of the recommissioning module he once held to reactivate the memories of his own abrasive and brash father.

This time, yielding the 2x4 device would not result in worldwide senior citizombie takeover.

 _Never again_!

He took a seat, trying to calm his excited heart and giddy chuckle – pipe in one hand, the lens piece of the module in the other.

Chad Dickson was a competent minion and apprentice in his army of ninjas, but Numbuh 274 was the best there was.


	8. Eight: Family, I

**Author's note:** Hello readers! Just a reminder that the first seven chapters have been improved to add more dialogue and better transitioning! I planned to update this _months_ ago, but was in a rut. So even though this isn't my favorite chapter, we are moving on along! Please enjoy!

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CHAPTER 8: FAMILY, PART I

 _He_ _was unmistakably satisfied, with his head up the clouds, cradling the equally sated girl closely in his arms with her back against his chest. Chad was still unsure of how he wanted to spend the rest of the day, but if he could have it his way, it would be pretty similar to their current situation._

 _It was an indescribable feeling that he couldn't name, and even if he tried, it would probably sound like a load of whipped fluff. It was definitely more than just euphoria. All he knew was that everything was right in the world when he was_ _with her. Who were the ninjas to try and take him away from it right now? And what about him? What the hell was he thinking sharing her with them?_

 _They weren't on the top of his priorities as of current, allowing those thoughts to slip into a drawer in the back of his mind._

 _Further intoxicated by the scent of her winter apple shampoo that tickled his nose, he slowly planted kisses from the shell of her ear to the middle of her head. He continued to trail down until he came into contact with that long and straight vertical scar that marked the rear of her neck._

 _He placed his lips there too, unknowing of the extent of such intimacy in an action._

 _The scar had been something he was so curious about since the first time he had seen it and she had tried to hide it during that dark, rainy day in his car. The last thing he wanted to do was make Rachel feel self-conscious and ashamed about it at that moment._

 _However, Chad couldn't swallow the urge down. He didn't think he could control it, and before he knew it, the words left his lips delicately._

" _Hey," he began gently. "Tell me about this."_

 _He put his lips on the scar again. The feeling of her molding to his form ceased as she stiffened._

 _Aware of the sensitivity of the topic, he murmured against the side of her neck this time. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Just wanted to let you know that if you ever wanted to talk about it or anything else even, I'm always willing to listen. No judgment. Ever."_

 _The way he said those words sent a chill up her spine. His invitation was comfort her family, therapists, and even friends could never offer._

" _... no, it's fine," Rachel uttered after a few moments of consideration, her back still exposed to him. She cleared her throat. "I can talk about it. Though I'm just not sure how much of my account would be factually correct. All I know is what I've been told."_

 _He also knew she had trouble recalling some long-term memories, even with the type of person she was, meticulous to specificity and detail. "Tell me what you remember."_

" _Hm… it was the night before my thirteenth birthday. My parents told me I was with people they didn't know," she recounted, before her voice fell a bit flatter. "I fell out of someone's treehouse and the kids who were there ran out on me. At least they had the decency to call me an ambulance…" Her voice trailed again after a small huff. "The impact should've… paralyzed me, killed me even. That treehouse must've been pretty damn high."_

 _He stayed silent, allowing her to continue if she wished to do so, and fortunately, she did._

 _Rachel took a breath, composing herself and comfortably molding in his arms again. "But I'm here, seemingly healthy. I get intense migraines sometimes, sure, but I'll take that over anything the doctors thought initially about my diagnosis. It took me the whole summer after my spinal surgery and months of rehab to heal and feel just a little normal. Mentally? I still wonder when that's coming. I don't know. I'm weird."_

 _When Chad didn't say anything, Rachel adjusted her body again and turned to search for a reaction in his gaze._

 _He wasn't certain who was more upset: him or her, and yet, he didn't display any indication of disappointment, shock, or any type of judgment at all. He still had so many questions concerning that situation (who the hell allowed for that to happen, why they weren't in juvie), but now wasn't the time to probe or solve those mysteries. Would there ever be a right time? He also wondered if this was a Kids Next Door related crime, but still, there was nothing like that in Rachel's files._

 _Instead, Chad smiled down at her until her expression mirrored his and softened, and she smiled too._

" _Why are you looking at me like that?"_

 _He lazily quirked an eyebrow, that very attractive upward curve of his lips still present. "Like what?"_

" _Like I'm your favorite person to ever exist." She tapped him on the nose and changed the subject, fancying the way how nothing felt weird or off after her disclosure. "But no jokes today? By now, I'd expected a remark about how not even football could beat this kind of cardio."_

" _Not right now," he whispered, rolling over on top and kissing her again. Chad pulled his sheets over both of their heads once more, figuring out exactly how they would spend their time. "But now that you mention it, I think I have to compare the two again."_

 _Rachel mischievously smiled under his lips._

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It was the worst time to be home right now.

Saturdays were usually spent not cooped up in her room these days, but Rachel needed a day or two to rest. It didn't help that flu season slapped her hard in the face, easily falling victim as if she were a European citizen during the Black Death.

All she needed was a good uninterrupted twelve hours of sleep and lots of water.

What would normally be a quiet and calm evening was replaced with a muffled and heated discussion resonating from the first floor of her home. It penetrated her bedroom's walls and she even almost thought to play the music that Chad liked to mask the noise.

" _This is your fault. He wouldn't be like this if you didn't baby him so much._ "

" _Why don't you try being home more often, George? Harvey executed all this for_ your _attention."_

She wasn't sure when or why their explosive arguments started again. She thought they had settled everything in marriage counseling _years_ ago.

Rachel heard the heavy footsteps belonging to her younger brother scurry up the stairs. She felt anger and frustration in those stomps. What came after that was the slamming of his bedroom door across the hallway.

She rolled to her side on her memory foam mattress.

If there was anything she hated more than being ill, it was being ill and feeling guilty. She hadn't had a real conversation with Harvey in… she couldn't even remember. She couldn't even blame her memory issues; she knew she hadn't been there for him in a long time.

At the same time, it's not like he was actively seeking out her comfort or guidance. He was an eleven-year-old boy just trying to fit in with his middle school classmates, just as she was with her own friends. They had _that_ in common, but this path of destruction he led had to stop.

Rachel sniffled as she rose to her feet slowly, sensitive to her body aches but fighting through and against the fatigue. When she found herself at his bedroom door, she knocked with a pattern.

" _Harvey_." Her voice was not her own. Stupid congestion. "Let's talk about what we should do with grandma and grandpa when they visit."

It was soundless besides the light ringing in her ears, so she pressed one to the door. Aware that he probably didn't want to talk about whatever recent delinquency he had involved himself in and the following fight with their parents, she expected being ignored if she tried to tackle the issue head on. And well, their grandparents _were_ coming to town for the Christmas holidays. It wouldn't hurt to cheer him up by talking about the awesome presents they would get.

" _Harvey_ , c'mon."

" _Leave me alone! I'm not in the mood,_ " she heard from the other side.

"Then I'll just have to _put_ you in the mood." Rachel opened the door, not expecting it to be that easy. "Huh. Look at that. You didn't even lock. Guess even _you_ knew you didn't want to be alone. Hm?"

The boy narrowed his eyes. "Dad had my doorknobs changed last time I got caught doing something stupid. Now, _out_! You look disgusting!" She sniffled at his words and failed to comply when she closed his door. "You're gonna get me sick!"

Harvey sat on the edge of his bed with his arms crossed, a mean scowl on his face. He moved to a further corner opposite and away from his sickly-looking older sibling, who took his place on that spot of the bed.

"Shush. Just tell me what's going on."

He didn't budge, but his scowl was very slowly disappearing, only because he focused his attention on the Yipperposter plastered on his wall. He relaxed his back on a pillow and refused to look at her.

"I don't want to talk about it," he whined.

Rachel gathered all the energy she had to bounce and scoot on his mattress to get closer and capture his attention.

"What are you _doing_?" Harvey furrowed his eyebrows at her.

She got up to his face and inhaled with a great force. "Well, if you're not gonna tell me what's wrong, I'm just gonna have to breathe on you. Can you picture it? You and I, being sick together. Sibling bonding like the good old days. You know how it is. You're my little brother and I just want to spend time with you. If this is what I have to do to get that to happen…"

"Augh! Fine! I'll tell you if you get away from me," he surrendered, putting his shirt over his nose.

Using his weakness as a germaphobe worked well to her advantage. Harvey was a difficult one to bargain with and while she didn't particularly like playing dirty when it was a genuine concern to others, it was necessary with him in numerous situations.

"Okay, okay." Rachel automatically moved back to her original space. "Now what did you do this time that _really_ drove mom and dad up the wall?"

The younger McKenzie sibling stayed silent for a moment before responding. It was embarrassing for him to admit.

"… I, well. Zack, some of the guys, and I… we went into Mr. Cormack's house… and stole a pair of his wife's underwear. But we got caught. Specifically, me. Didn't even make it down the street."

"Are you crazy?" She whisper-shouted at him and narrowed her eyes. Her incredulous reaction caused stirred something within him. "Harvey. A panty raid? Really? And your math teacher's wife? That's breaking and entering, you idiot! Why would you do that?"

He sighed exasperatedly. "I don't need to hear it from you, okay? Dad already hashed it out with him and the principal, and I'm suspended from school for a few days. They wanted me to name who else I was with, but the guys would never forgive me if I ratted them out. My idea anyway."

"You need to stop making excuses for your 'friends,'" she said as she air-quoted the last word. "You don't have to act like a clown for them to like you. Is it worth _this_? You're in trouble and mom and dad are gonna be in these foul moods for weeks. All during the holidays, too."

It was Harvey's turn to roll his eyes. "Easy for you to say; you're the favorite."

"Don't say that."

"You know it's true. You have it _way_ easier than I do."

 _No way_.

Did he honestly think that? Rachel, surprised with his words, wouldn't let him win this little verbal spar.

"You're kidding, right? You think because I stay out of trouble _unlike_ you, I have it easy? You have the freedom I don't have! Do you know how many times I have to bargain with them to let me out? Stop acting like a clown and stop taking that for granted!"

"First of all, you sneak out anyway. And second, you? Staying out of trouble?" he scoffed. "You're just better at hiding it. You're a good actress. You would've fooled me if I didn't see you ditch community service and lie about it. And to go hang out with Virginia at the 8Twelve. I _could_ tell mom and dad that wasn't a soda in that paper bag."

She glared at him. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, there's so much to tell them about you that I could probably get the heat off my back if I did. I _could_ tell them about your boyfriend–"

"You _wouldn't_."

"Relax, would ya?" Harvey finally relented. "You know I wouldn't. You've covered me for the TP incident, the egging, the shaving cream prank, that one time with the saran wrap and Mrs. Morris' car…"

Rachel cringed when she thought about how deeply involved in delinquency he was. He gave her headaches, not of the debilitating sort, but they were still headaches.

 _Ugh._

"I _really_ shouldn't be covering for you. But you're my little brother. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I know somewhere deep in there… you cover for _me_ because you actually kind of care."

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes flippantly. He eventually gave her a half smile. "So, do you think mom and dad are gonna go be okay?"

She sniffled once more and cleared her congestion, to which he crinkled his nose in disdain. "Of course they are."

:

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 **Three Years Ago**

 _He and the rest of Sector W were celebrating Numbuh 87's graduation from the academy. Father's league of ice cream men had absolutely_ nothing _on them. It really was the ideal day; the sun was shining, the cold dessert was delicious, and it was easy._

 _Of course, Harvey knew he was an awesome sector leader. He reminded Lee, Sonia, and Paddy of this every chance he got, every time their shared mission success rate would increase. The new addition to their team would know this too as time went on._

 _But then Numbuh 5 had called him and the jovial events of the day were undone. The sandy hair colored leader hadn't heard from Sector V since Numbuh 1's mysterious disappearance so he found it odd for his second-in-command to be reaching out to him._

" _Um, hello?"_

" _Numbuh 363–" He saw Numbuh 5 pause on his communicator. "No, Harvey. I don't know if your parents have reached out to you yet, but Rachel… she fell out of my treehouse and she's_ really _hurt. She just arrived at the hospital…"_

 _He listened to whatever she had to say. This had to be a joke. Rachel was turning thirteen tomorrow!_ _This was definitely some sort of prank that his new teenage sister got Numbuh 5 in on. Sector V_ always _was shady to him…_

 _Harvey snorted. "Nice try. Who do you think I am? Tommy Gilligan?"_

 _Gullible idiot._

 _He hung up, not realizing that would be his new Supreme Leader by the time the morning came._

" _Numbuh 363?" Sonia called to him, not even a minute later._

 _It was her house their treehouse was based._

" _What is it?"_

 _If there was no news from her parents from his, then it really was just an attempt at a messed up prank. That was what he told himself._

" _My mom said she got a call from your mom. It sounded really bad."_

 _His heartbeat began to ring in his ears._

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:

 _His parents' version of the story was even worse._

 _To them, the Kids Next Door had just been some club for the neighborhood kids. ("The Youth Next Whatso?") Now they were a bunch of nameless cowards who ditched their unconscious daughter with no explanation of the events that led up to such a catastrophe._

 _They threw away all of the balloons, cards, and baskets meant for her. He doubted their parents would ever let her associate with them again, not that it mattered. She was now officially a teen._

 _She'd be taken away for decommissioning once she woke up. He had high hopes that she would, eventually._

 _Harvey sat in Rachel's bare hospital room, waiting impatiently for when his parents would go get some coffee or something. He needed to usher in the KND doctors for these brain scans. He sighed as he threw his head back against the wall._

" _Son, I have to be honest with you. We don't know when Rachel will wake up, or if it will even happen," his dad said. The patriarch of their family hadn't slept in days, stressing out over her condition and whether or not to pull the plug if it ever came down to it._

 _Topics like that made Harvey nervous. He tried so hard not to think about it that way._

" _George," his mother intervened angrily. "How could you say that? Rachel has always been a fighter. That's one feat she didn't get from you. The only thing you ever are is negative."_

" _I'm not being negative, Kat. I'm being realistic. We have to prepare for the worst."_

" _The worst? You're treating Rachel like she's on her death bed. I don't want to hear any of that!"_

 _Harvey threw his head back repeatedly until he tuned them out._

 _They fought every day, and with each of these passing days, it was getting worse._

 _These days he could never get a word in with them._

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 _When he wasn't home or with his parents in his sister's hospital suite, Harvey would take Sector W on unauthorized missions to teenage hangouts. Numbuh 5 had already given him one warning, but he couldn't find himself to care. She_ wasn't _his commander. He needed to find the source of all the misery his family had._

" _Which one of you dumb teenagers_ hurt _my sister?" Harvey's voice was so calm, that it scared his team, who patiently stood behind him. His weapon was pointed at one of the five ninjas they had ambushed at an 8Twelve, strung up and hanging in the store. "I'm not going to ask again. She's been in the hospital for weeks IN A COMA because one of you had illegal experimental weapons."_

" _We don't even know your sister, man! Chill out," the other one with sunglasses begged._

" _SHE WAS THE SUPREME LEADER OF THE KIDS NEXT DOOR AND A FEW OF YOU WERE INVOLVED. I KNOW IT," he shouted in rage, before splanking the one in front of him repeatedly._

 _Screams filled the minimart._

 _Lee exhaled before stepping up and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Numbuh 363, I really think they don't know anything. Maybe we should go."_

 _Harvey shook his hand off his shoulder. He didn't like being touched. "Leave if you want. I'm staying."_

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" _BOY, are you crazy?!" The Supreme Leader sat at the seat of her new desk, thoroughly reprimanding him "What did I tell you about going on a tour of all the minimarts in the state to attack the teenagers?"_

" _Not to do it," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He held back the urge to roll his eyes._

 _Abby tried to be sensitive to the boy, but she was really low on patience for him at the point. He made it very hard for her to make sure everyone else in his sector was safe._

" _Yet, you continue to go against my command. Last week, Numbuh 87 nearly broke his leg taking a hit for you. The week before, Numbuh 83's three-day-long abduction. When will it be enough for you?"_

 _Harvey only had a few words for her. "Until I find out who it is. You won't tell me, so naturally, I have to take matters into my own hands."_

 _She placed two fingers on the bridge of her nose in frustration. There was no compromise with him._

" _Because I took care of it already. Don't be an idiot, Harvey. I know you're not an idiot. Don't undo the work I've put in to get that temporary ceasefire with the teens. Sector PR finally even got everyone to stop talking about your sister." Abby locked her gaze with his. She placed her hands before her. "This is my second warning, Numbuh 363. One more and Numbuh 5 will be forced to call 86 for an early dishonorable decommissioning. She's eager after hearing what Shaunie did for you."_

 _Harvey continued to hold that eye contact with the new so-called commander, while conspiracy theories began to brew and develop in his head. He knew very little things about Numbuh 5 aside from the well-known facts relating to her history with Sector V._

 _Legendary status or not, he found himself very suspicious of the older girl in front of him. She had an older sister who was super high up in the ninja hierarchy. There was no doubt in his mind that Numbuh 5's sister had a part in the ceasefire._

 _If she was present and took care of the wreck of a teen who did this to Rachel, why couldn't she just give him a name? A name would give him at least half of the peace he was craving, and she was denying him that…_

 _Suddenly, alarms were going off in his head._

 _Could it be?_

 _She took over Rachel's rule_ hours _after she called him._

 _Did she set this all up to conveniently swoop in and steal his sister's throne?_

 _Ultimately, he wondered if she had an alliance with the ninjas. She had to._

" _Numbuh 363, you've been standing there for a while. Do you understand what I just said clearly?"_

 _Harvey cleared his throat to speak. "Crystal."_

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" _NUMBUH 363, YE ARE BEING DISHONORABLY DECOMISSIONED FOR CONTINUOUS CRIMES AGAINST THE TEENS DURING THE CEASEFIRE AND FOR PLANNING AN ATTACK ON OUR SUPREME LEADER!" Numbuh 86 interjected, watching the eight-year-old struggle in the hold of her squad._

 _His sector had ratted him out._

" _If you go through this, you'll regret it! The Supreme Leader is a liar and she's loyal to the teens! She set Rachel up so she could take over! I swear by it!" Harvey continued to grapple in the hands of the decommissioning squad. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"_

" _OH, SHUT IT," Fanny bellowed, her laser still steadily locked on Harvey. However, in a moment of weakness at the mention of Rachel's name, she started to feel sympathetic. "Look. I miss her too, but I'm in no position to believe ye after everything ye've put Paddy and Shaunie through. THIS HAS TO BE DONE."_

" _Take him away, Numbuh 86. He's a danger to us, a danger to his sector, and most of all a danger to himself." Abby shifted in her throne, shaking her head._

 _Crazy as he was, Harvey was wasted talent._

 _As he was being taken away, she closed her eyes and whispered under breath. "Rach… I'm so sorry."_

:

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" _Harvey," Rachel's weak voice croaked out. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"_

 _She laid stiff in her hospital bed, thanking the nurse who just administered her pain medication. She couldn't move her neck (or much else, really) and was in the talks of surgery with her parents and her doctor. It was a step toward recovery after her diagnosis of mild amnesia._

 _It was very weird. She remembered her family, she remembered her favorite episodes of Doctor Time Space, she even remembered the last day of school this year. What she couldn't remember was why she was at a treehouse, when she knew no one who had one._

 _The doctors told her to take it easy and not force anything._

" _Not a ghost," Harvey replied nonchalantly._

 _He swiped the chocolate pudding off her tray and started to eat it. "Maybe a zombie. I know you just woke up, but you look horrible."_

 _Geez. Teenagers and their inability to avoid injury._

 _Rachel took a good look at her younger sibling, who watched the television intently. There was something different about him. Was her mind playing tricks on her or was he less neurotic than usual?_

 _She lightly laughed anyway; it was something she needed in this kind of environment, that typical little brother humor. "_ You're _the horrible one."_

:

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 **Present Day**

Chad was suspicious. It was Monday afternoon and he hadn't heard from Rachel since yesterday morning. It didn't compare to the time he ignored her, but still. Something didn't feel right.

"Maybe she realized how much of a tool you are," Maurice joked, getting into the front passenger seat of the blond's car. They were on their way to Father's for a biweekly meeting.

"You're hilarious, Maurice," he replied sarcastically. He started the engine. "But I'm worried. My parents wanted to have dinner with her tonight, but she hasn't replied to anything."

It was an understatement how much his parents adored Rachel. They asked about her often. Chad hadn't meant for them to meet her when they did a few weeks ago, but they were home on a day that he didn't expect. They were shocked to learn that their son had taken up French, with his new very intellectual girlfriend as a tutor.

 _She snickered into the sleeve of her jacket. "I like your parents, boy scout. They're nothing like mine. They're crazy about you in the best way."_

That was after his mom pulled out the album of childhood pictures and his dad put on the videos of his violin recitals, of course.

"Relax, loverboy. She's a junior, it's SAT season, there's a lot going on. And maybe she's still sick. That's why she couldn't make it to The Point over the weekend, right?" His dark-skinned friend didn't give him much ease. "Just call her before we go in. You're sweating it out too much."

When they finally pulled up to Father's property, he did just that.

He pressed on her picture and brought his phone to his face.

Three dial tones later, she picked up.

"Hey beautiful," Chad began. He was dumb. Of course, nothing was wrong. "We still on for tonight?"

Maurice gave a small smirk at his relief. Chad knew what he was thinking: _whipped_.

The feeling of unease returned with the older, deeper voice at the other end of the line.

" _I'm sorry, Mr. Dickson. My daughter will not be able to join you for any sort of plans tonight, tomorrow, or anytime at all in the near future."_


End file.
